In mid-June, the weather in Huaidong has become hot.
Although the Liang Army cavalry had withdrawn from Huaidong three months ago, Wang Wenqian rushed to Chuzhou by car, and Yin Peng, who was riding horse, was escorted by more than a hundred cavalry to both sides of Chi Road.
Looking at it, you can still see the traces left by the war.
A large number of refugees who had no way of living after their houses and fields were destroyed were stranded in the lakes on both sides, relying on fish, shrimps, crabs and snails to survive. There were also signs of the spread of the waterborne plague expanding.
Although Wang Wenqian understood the relationship between eating raw crab snails and the water bug epidemic after reading Han Daoxun's "Epidemic Water Treatment", the problem states and counties did not have the ability to resettle and relieve so many hungry people.
Without relief from the state and county, these hungry people were struggling to survive. It is possible that they could be forced to collect fuel wood, make fires to boil water, and cook fish and crabs before eating.
Although the war in Huaidong has been going on for three months, after Emperor Zhu Yu of the Liang Dynasty disbanded the Lou Chuanjun into the Left and Right Lou Chuanjuns, the Right Lou Chuanjun was based in Haizhou and frequently entered and exited the Huaihe River, raiding the south bank and launching small-scale attacks.
The fighting has not stopped for nearly three months.
Although Liang Emperor Zhu Yuye had led 40,000 elite cavalry back to Bianjing two months ago, only Han Yuanqi was left with 60,000 horse infantry to guard the three states of Xu, Si, and Hai on the north bank of the middle and lower reaches of the Huaihe River. It seems impossible at present.
A large-scale offensive was launched against Huaidong, but Huaidong's losses in this battle were not unbearable.
Huaidong's soldiers and horses did not suffer much heavy damage. The total number of casualties was three to four thousand, which was negligible compared to the Huaidong Army, which had 120,000 soldiers and horses.
However, in this battle, the entire territory of Sizhou and Haizhou north of the Huaihe River fell into the hands of the enemy.
In addition to Sizhou and most of the people in Haizhou who had not had time to evacuate south from the north bank, during the large-scale raids by Liang's enemies on the south bank, there were nearly 100,000 people and tens of thousands of livestock on the south bank, who were plundered and carried to the sea by Liang's army.
There were tens of thousands of casualties in Sizhou and Sizhou.
What was even more serious was that the production in Chuzhou, Yangzhou, and northern Taizhou was severely hit. Three to four hundred thousand houses were set on fire, causing a large number of people to flee the war and flock to Yangzhou, and Taizhou and Taizhou became refugees.
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Even if no additional money and grain are spent to provide relief to these dispersed refugees, after agricultural production has suffered such a heavy blow, this year's summer grain collection in the three prefectures and 17 counties will drop to approximately 20-30% of the level of previous years.
It can be said to be adding insult to injury!
The large amount of grain that Huaidong plundered from the Jiangdong states during the Jinling Incident was about to be exhausted at this time. Especially the reclamation system around Chuzhou was devastated. The current expenditure was already seriously insufficient and had to be squeezed out.
With limited military resources and expansion of the navy, it is becoming increasingly stretched.
However, if the naval forces are not strengthened and they do not compete for control of the water network in the lower reaches of the Huaihe River, the situation in Huaidong will become worse in the future.
Due to financial constraints, it is impossible to spend much money and food to help the displaced refugees, let alone help these refugees return to their homes and rebuild their houses.
Of course, there are historical reasons for Huaidong's huge military expenditure.
Early on, King Chuxin took over the Chuzhou army from Li Yu, with only 30,000 elite troops.
For the sake of convenient control, these soldiers and horses were not directly integrated into the Forbidden Army system, that is, the families of these elite generals were not sent to the military camps in Runzhou, Gyeonggi and other places for resettlement. Instead, they were all kept in Chuzhou.
Build villages and cultivate fields on both sides of the Huaihe River.
The generals of Chuzhou are treated better than the soldiers of the Forbidden Army. In addition to no military pay, the army is responsible for the expenses of clothing, armor, weapons, horses and livestock, making the expenses of the Chuzhou Army's 30,000 elite troops higher than that of the Forbidden Army of the same size.
Big cut.
However, in the early years, thanks to the efforts of Han Daoxun when he served as the Secretary of the Chuzhou Defense Mission, the Chuzhou Army built a relatively complete reclamation system on both sides of the Huaihe River, especially in the east bank of Fanliang Lake in southern Chuzhou. The Defense Mission had almost a million
acres of military reclamation land.
In previous years, this settlement system alone could provide more than 400,000 shi of grain and various materials totaling more than 200,000 qian each year.
Coupled with the money and food allocated by the central government, Xin Wang Yang Yuanyan can support an elite force of 30,000 people in Chuzhou, which is more than enough.
In the event of a larger-scale war, the imperial court would also recruit troops and horses from the Yangtai, Runsu and Suzhou states to rush to the Huaihe River for reinforcements. The Huaidong region has been able to maintain stability for a long time.
Before and after the Jinling Incident, the Chuzhou Army rapidly expanded to 120,000 troops, quadrupling the number of troops, but military expenditures did not simply increase fourfold.
In the old farming system, if more land could not be allocated to the new generals, these generals needed to be given military pay to support their families; and in order to win over the former direct line generals, this also had to be paid accordingly.
The Huaidong Army's military pay was actually equivalent to a quasi-recruitment system in the later period. The Huaidong Army spent an additional 7.8 million yuan a year on military pay alone.
Adding up other new items, the new expenditure is another 14.5 million yuan a year.
Even if they were granted the title of Huaiguo vassal, and the land of Taiyang and Yangzhou were newly added, the land taxes and taxes that could be collected would still be far from making up for the shortfall.
Thanks to the huge gains from plundering Jiangdong during the Jinling Incident, it could barely sustain itself for two years.
It is a pity that when Huaidong planned to expand the scale of settlement on both sides of the Huaihe River and convert half of the soldiers into camps, it suffered such a heavy blow...
The reclamation system originally under the jurisdiction of the Chuzhou Army was mainly built within the territory of Chuzhou.
Although when the war broke out, the generals and their families were basically evacuated to the strongholds for protection without much loss. However, there were hundreds of villages, large and small, with tens of thousands of houses.
The house in Shetian was set on fire, leaving a large number of generals, soldiers and their families homeless. A large number of ditches and river embankments were also demolished. This was a huge loss.
There are many signs that Liang Jun purposefully and plannedly destroyed the farming system in Huai'an, especially the reclamation system in Chuzhou, at the beginning of the year.
This blow was not a big blow to the Huaidong Army.
The gaps in the river embankments that were opened didn't look big at first, but in March and April after the war, Huaidong was in chaos and there was no time to organize civilian workers to repair these river embankments.
In April and May, the Jianghuai River has more rain than in previous years, and the Huaihe River floods, filling Hongzepu.
Fanliang Lake and the east of Hongzepu are the downstream areas. The old river embankments and dams cannot function, and the gaps that have not been repaired in time continue to collapse and expand under the impact of the flood.
At this time, the northern part of Yangzhou, the whole of Chuzhou and even the western part of Taizhou were flooded.
King Xin could ignore the civilians who had left their homes due to war persecution and floods, but he could not ignore the more than 200,000 generals and their families near Chuzhou.
We must know that the 30,000 generals and soldiers involved in these dependent families are direct descendants who have followed Xin Wang Yang Yuanyan for many years, and are the foundation for Xin Wang Yang Yuanyan to rule Huaidong.
However, just to arrange for these generals to be small, the cost is astonishingly high.
At the same time, in order to prevent the Chuzhou reclamation system from being hit again, the navy must be strengthened immediately to withstand the harassment of the navy on the north coast.
Thinking of this, Wang Wenqian's mind was also in a mess. He thought that it would be better to imitate the Tangyi soldiers and send the Huaidong Army out of the city, fight bloody battles with the Liang Army, and block the Liang Army north of the Huaihe River at all costs. The situation would not be the same.
As for how ugly it is now.
Wang Wenqian didn't believe that Emperor Zhu Yu of Liang killed his father and usurped the throne. His foundation was not stable, so he dared to lose more than 30,000 of his elite troops in Huaidong.
It's just that it's too late to say this now. When he arrives in Chuzhou this time, no matter what, he should persuade King Xin to put down his attitude and have a good talk about brotherhood with the man in Jinling City.
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A large group of Liang Jun's cavalry crossed the Huaihe River. After two months of continuous harassment, they far bypassed Chuzhou City, which was defended by strong soldiers. Chuzhou City was still as towering and tall, but there were muddy water depressions everywhere under the city, as if
It connects with Hongze in the west and Huaihe River in the north to form a sky-filled lake.
The terrain of Chidao was slightly higher and was not submerged by the flood. Wang Wenqian stood on the car and looked at the scattered village houses in the flood, as if they were isolated islands standing in the vast ocean. He felt secretly that Chuzhou had been hit by the disaster in the past month.
The situation was more serious than he expected. He didn't know how Ruan Yan and others did it. After the war, they neglected to repair the embankment on the east bank of Hongzepu.
Of course, Wang Wenqian also knew that he was in Yangzhou and did not have any deep empathy. His criticism of Ruan Yan and others might be harsh.
Maybe Liang General Han Yuanqi used his navy to continuously harass the south bank, and he had been deliberately trying every possible means to prevent the people here from repairing the river embankment, and even intended to intensify the destruction of the embankment on the west bank of Hongzepo, right?
"Prince..."
Seeing Ruan Yan waiting in front of the city gate with several guards, he seemed to have made a special trip
Go out of the city to meet him.
Wang Wenqian hurriedly dismounted his horse and Yin Peng, got off the horse, walked towards the city gate, and greeted Ruan Yan.
After chatting for a while, Wang Wenqian invited Yuan Yan to board his carriage and rushed to the palace together.
"Before Li Chong committed suicide in fear of crime in Shuzhou, he once said that Han Qian, the Marquis of Qianyang, knew that Wen Ruilin was a Liang Jian affair. According to what the prince saw, is it true?" Ruan Yan asked after getting in the car.
To be honest, when the news that the main force of the Navy was destroyed in Hongzepu reached Yangzhou, Wang Wenqian had expected this. But at that time, the destruction of the main force of the Navy had become a fact, and the matter had become a minor detail. He did not want to cause trouble, so he did not mention it to the outside world.
and.
Li Chong died in the Bijiashan Camp of the Huaixi Forbidden Army in early February. Although Li Chong descended behind enemy lines to spread rumors to frame the Marquis of Qianyang, and was discovered by Liyang Marquis Yang En, he committed suicide in fear of guilt.
It was only mentioned in a few words, but Huaidong knew the details.
Wang Wenqian glanced at Ruan Yan doubtfully. He wondered if Ruan Yan had any other intentions when he mentioned this issue again after so many days.
Of course Wang Wenqian would not mention to Ruan Yan that when the imperial censor Zhongcheng Zheng Chang came to Yangzhou to convey the decree, Jun'er deliberately asked about many details of the court's decision-making. He also concluded from this point afterwards that Han Qian should have known about Wen Rui for a long time.
Lin's identity, but he would not avoid Ruan Yan's question and said:
"What Li Chong said should be true, but it's a pity that he shouldn't have chosen to say it at that time."
"When the imperial navy attacked Hongzepu, Han Qian was on the east bank of Fanliang Lake. He was so cruel." Ruan Yan said with emotion.
Wang Wenqian smiled in agreement. He just hoped that Ruan Yan and King Xin could understand that while Huaidong was on guard against Han Qian, the Marquis of Guizhou Yang, it also needed to maintain cooperation with Tangyi, otherwise the situation would be even more difficult.
"Tangyi soldiers and Shouzhou soldiers fought several bloody battles along the Chu River and Fucha Mountain to establish the depth of today's defense on the north bank. Qianyang reported to the court that Tangyi soldiers suffered casualties of more than 14,000 in the battle - Wang Gong
Do you think Marquis Qianyang’s excerpts are exaggerated?” Ruan Yan asked again.
Wang Wenqian was really surprised. He thought that the Privy Council's decision on the merits of Tangyi's soldiers in all battles had been finalized two months ago. At that time, King Xin did not question anything. Why did Ruan Yan ask this question again at this time?
Wang Wenqian said patiently:
"To this day, the Shouzhou Army does not have the strength to launch a decent offensive on the southern front. Instead, it concentrates its forces in the southeast of the Wujian Mountains and the southeast of Chuzhou. It builds fortresses and camps in Shiliang County and takes a defensive position. It can be seen that
Several battles have definitely weakened the Shouzhou Army. However, even though we all know that Han Qian had gathered some of the old Zuo-Guangde Army on the west bank of Fanliang Lake before, it would be necessary to defeat the Shouzhou Army to a great extent.
They also had to pay a heavy price. After all, the Shouzhou Army did not make any mistakes. In order to win in this situation, they could only ask the generals to use their lives and fight bravely - this is consistent with the observation of Yangzhou's war on the western front of Tangyi.
Consistent.”
"The Marquis of Guizhou Yang sent the elite of his direct line to fight bloody battles in Tangyi, regardless of casualties, to defend the court. The princes of the court would not believe the rumors spread by Li Chong, right? After all, they did not know that when the navy went north, Han Qian actually
Just watch with cold eyes." Ruan Yan asked.
"This is not necessarily true. Li Chong surrendered to the enemy because Yang En, the Marquis of Liyang, saw through it, but Yang En had no contact with Tangyi in the past few months; and Yang Zhitang of Shouzhou returned to Jinling after meeting the Marquis of Guizhou Yang in Tangyi, and wrote to ask You Longwu to be transferred
The army moved to Runzhou, and as a stopgap measure, they also submitted a letter requesting the establishment of a new navy under the banner of Youlong Wujun, so as to better coordinate and prevent Liang Jun's navy from raiding the coast. This is obviously the relationship between Shou Wang Yang Zhitang and the Marquis of Qianyang.
There was a tacit understanding, but Shen Yang firmly advocated the independent reconstruction of the navy to be responsible for the coastal and offshore defense of Gyeonggi and the east. From these two points, we can see that Yang En and Shen Yang should spread rumors about Li Chong.
Not completely indifferent." Wang Wenqian said.
Speaking of this, Wang Wenqian couldn't help but ask: "When I came to Chuzhou today, Duke Ruan seemed to be particularly interested in the Marquis of Qianyang?"
"Yes," Ruan Yan said, "two days ago I heard someone saying that the Marquis of Qianyang had expired and had not been married so far, so I couldn't help but want to know more about the Marquis of Qianyang's past..."
At that time, the mourning period was twenty-seven months. Counting the time when Han Daoxun was sentenced to death, Han Qian was considered to have expired and could talk about marriage.
Just hearing Ruan Yan say this, Wang Wenqian was stunned for a long time. He really didn't know how to answer the question appropriately...