The speed with which Chuang Jun stabilized jute exceeded the imagination of all local citizens.
On the last day of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, on New Year's Eve, several of the most lively and spacious streets, such as Macheng's Buying Street, Guan Street, etc., were centered on the Shuai Mansion Hall and radiated in all directions. Temporary sheds and open houses serve as temporary shopping malls to balance the overcrowding in the market where demand exceeds supply.
The biggest player here was Chuangjun's own Kendeji. Xiao Weisong, the chief shopkeeper, rushed to Hankou Town before the New Year to buy a large number of new year's goods with the jewelry taken from the army's luggage.
The shop floor of the shack is filled with a dazzling array of merchandise, including crowns, scarves, hairnets, clothes, skirts and coats, vests, books, antiques, pickled fruits, and fresh and cooked dishes. There is beauty in everything, and no beauty is perfect.
These selling places attracted thousands of customers, making the roads crowded. Ma Bao, who was responsible for maintaining security in Macheng, had to temporarily dispatch more than 200 intruder infantry to guard the roads and maintain order. , so as to prevent people from competing for New Year's goods and causing any trouble.
Jiao Da, the soldier next to Ma Bao who had saved his life once, was still looking carefree. He looked to the left at the shop selling roasted chestnuts and fried honey, and then at the restaurant that was making fish soup and meat cakes. His index finger He was moving a lot and drooling, and he didn't have the energy of a veteran soldier who broke into the army.
"Hey, brothers, take a look, there's an opera stage over there!"
Jiao Da was tall and could see far. He saw at a glance that someone was singing an opera on a high stage at the end of the street. There was also a place for leaf opera next to the stage. There were storytellers, fortune tellers, and lantern riddle guessers, who were watching. The sign...
It is indeed a bit peaceful and peaceful.
The Chuang Army did not prohibit Jianghu people from walking within its jurisdiction, nor did it restrict the people from going outside. There were no strict restrictions on the flow of people to the outside world.
This is because Suizhou and Huangzhou are small in area and lack of general merchandise. It is necessary for the army to attract merchants to sell goods and promote circulation. On the other hand, Li Laiheng is eager for the gentry who own land to escape as soon as possible, so that he can take the opportunity to confiscate the land. Owned by Chuangjun.
People from the Jianghu area with special skills from the Three Rivers and Five Mountains fill the streets. Everyone has heard that although the Juma area is occupied by "bandits", the military discipline is in good order, the weather is like a peaceful season, and the "bandits" do not discriminate against people from the Jianghu area. , are often promoted to princes and high officials, so everyone wants to show their skills and win fame and fortune.
Some of these entertainers perform acrobatics, some do acrobatics, some tell history, some sing and sing, some make insects and ants, and some sell a few patches of plaster with broken chests.
Ma Bao saw Jiao Da playing more and more crazy, so he hurried over to restrain him. Halfway through, he suddenly saw a couplet hung on both sides of the stage, which read: In those days, there was a huge crowd of people performing in the arena. Today, Macheng's performances are overwhelming the country and the city.
The tone of this couplet was really too loud. Ma Bao was deeply amused when he saw it, so he grabbed a passerby and asked: "Who wrote this couplet? The tone was too loud."
Passers-by were also immersed in the festive atmosphere of New Year's Eve and actually laughed and replied: "This is written by Mr. Fang himself!"
Ha, Mr. Fang.
Ma Bao felt even more amused in his heart, but he also thought that the people of Macheng casually called Fang Yiren their husband, as if they had acquiesced in the Chuang army's rule over Huangma, and really regarded them as a legitimate government office.
Jieshuai's management skills are really good. If he can really manage Handong into an iron-barrel empire, maybe Chuangjun will really be able to compete in the world?
Ma Bao was originally a subordinate of Gao Qian, the general of the Henan army. He was captured by Li Laiheng during the Battle of Luoyang and joined the invasion army. He knew that Li Zicheng had been winning consecutive battles in the Central Plains recently, and he had the potential to crush his eggs, so he suddenly wanted to
I feel half happy for my original choice.
"Good news from Anlu, get out of the way!"
Just as he was thinking about how wise his act of joining the army was, the crowd behind him suddenly started to make a noise. A knight of the army riding a fast horse galloped over from the middle of the street. As he ran, he loudly said that there was good news from Anlu, and passers-by
Everyone was startled by the neighing of the fast horses and hurriedly got out of the way. Then they were shocked by the news of Anlu's success.
Anlu is the capital city of De'an Prefecture where Suizhou is located. Everyone knows that a few days ago, the Chuang Army sent out another unit to clean up the remnants of the official army. I heard that the army was still led by the resourceful General Guo?
But he never expected that within a few days of leaving Juma, the news of the capture of Anlu would be sent back!
After the Chu army killed Song Yihe, the governor of Huguang, and annihilated the main force of the government army in the Battle of Huangma, it is said that the whole province was shaken, and all the prefectures and counties were tightly guarded. Although Li Laiheng successively captured Huangzhou Prefecture except Huang'an and Macheng counties.
Qishui, Luotian and other places, but did not continue to attack Huanggang, the capital of Huangzhou Prefecture.
Therefore, everyone felt that Li Laiheng was content with the land of jute, and they did not expect to capture the capital city of Anlu so soon.
In this way, in the area occupied by the intruders in Huguang, De'an Mansion and Huangzhou Mansion were connected together, covering each other, and the situation became more and more consolidated.
The knight who delivered the message flew to the commander's palace before dismounting and delivered the news that Guojunzhen had captured Anlu.
At that time, Li Laiheng was discussing with Fang Yiren and Bai Wangcai about continuing to promote the new camp method in Luotian, Qishui and other places. After all, the army was short of manpower, and they could not rest even on New Year's Eve.
After the news of the occupation of Anlu was sent to the camp, Li Laiheng, Fang Yiren, and Bai Wang all looked at each other and were overjoyed. Li Laiheng even jumped up and said in surprise: "The speed with which Xiongli used his troops exceeded my expectations.
Chongzhen gave us a great New Year gift fifteen years ago!"
Fang Yiren shook his fan and analyzed: "Anlu is where the De'an Prefecture is located, on the northern edge of Jianghan. Now that Xiongli has taken Anlu, our troops can reach the Hanyang city at any time, intimidate Han, Jiang, and control the north of Han."
, Handong, the land of Sanchu, our soldiers can be considered to have occupied a share."
Li Laiheng was in a happy mood. He was planning to move all the headquarters of the Shuaishuai Mansion in Suizhou and the Shuaishuai Mansion in Macheng to Anlu, and then work in Anlu. He said to Bai Wang: "New Year's Eve is here.
, light the lamp!”
Naturally, the purpose of lighting the lanterns this time is not to hang anyone on the lamp, but to celebrate the New Year and light up the lanterns throughout the city.
Li Laiheng took Fang Yiren, Bai Wang and others to the city gate tower and arranged to enjoy the lanterns with Gao Yigong and others. They looked down from a high position and saw at a glance that there were hundreds of lanterns of different shapes and designs hanging in the city:
There are one-character lanterns painted with the words "Fu", "Lu", "Shou", etc., as well as beautiful plum blossom lanterns and begonia lanterns. Chuang Jun himself also placed a big lantern with the words "Fengtian Advocate for Justice", which shines brightly.
, illuminating thousands of households inside the cave, giving a clear view.
Li Laiheng sighed: "We have only managed Chu for a short time, but we have already been able to get a glimpse of the wealth of the land of plenty. It is pity that Song Yihe, a bird official, passed through the land of plenty and plenty of lakes, but also caused the villagers to swarm and the tenants to go into exile. The imperial court ruled
If Chu fails, the land of plenty and plenty will be filled with tenants resisting grain, slaves revolting, and villagers forming strongholds to defend themselves. It can only be said that this is a gift from heaven to our overlord."
Gao Yigong also said: "We have won consecutive battles. Rumor has it that the Generalissimo also won repeated battles in the Central Plains. The imperial court is overwhelmed and exhausted. How long can Wang Qiaonian last? The situation is really different."
Li Laiheng nodded and asked Gao Yigong: "Song Yihe was killed by us. The court was horrified. Ding Qirui was even more frightened. He patrolled in the north of the Yangtze River. He neither dared to attack Zhang Xianzhong nor the fifth battalion of Gezuo.
Dare to return to Wuchang rashly. Brother Yigong, what do you think this Ding Qirui will do next?"
After Gao Yigong pondered for a while, he replied: "Ding Qirui is the supervisor and is responsible for the restoration and suppression. He still has many supervisory soldiers and horses, and his strength is not weak. Now that Anlu has been captured by us, the gates of Wuchang are wide open. This
It’s much more important than Zhang Xianzhong and the Fifth Battalion of Ge Zuo. I think Ding Qirui can only return to Wuchang... Maybe right now, he has led his troops back to Wuchang City."
"Well, I discussed it with Leshan yesterday and we had the same idea. Now that Ding Qirui has returned to Wuchang, Zhang Xianzhong and the 5th Gezuo Battalion have lost control. They may go east to the Yangtze River and attack Jiangnan, or they may follow Ding Qirui's ass and fight back to Huguang."
Li Laiheng pointed to the east and said to everyone: "There are not many sailors in Xiying and Gezuo. I think it will be difficult for them to make up their mind to attack Jiangnan. It is more likely that they took advantage of the good opportunity of the disintegration of the Huguang official army to bite Ding Qirui's tail.
, attack and return to Chu. In this way, we not only have to deal with Ding Qirui returning to Wuchang, but we also have to prepare a table of dishes to deal with the eight kings!"
Zhang Xianzhong and the fifth battalion of Gezuo fought together in the north of the Yangtze River. They originally wanted to supervise the construction of the navy in Chaohu and attack the south of the Yangtze River. Shi Kefa, Ma Shiying and others who could block the north of the Yangtze River all led their troops to fight to the death.
Lacking a powerful navy, on the last day of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, they had given up their plan to go east to the south of the Yangtze River, and went all-out westward, on their way back to Huguang.
The moon rises higher and higher, and the whole city is dyed with melting silver light. The fourteenth year of Chongzhen has ended in this way. The world is still in turmoil, but the corner of Chu Di is completely different.