Chapter seven hundred and eighty sixth siege to help
Two days later, Guo Song led his army to a small town about fifty miles away from Yongnian County. The town was called Qingshui Town, named after the Xiao Qinghe River to the east of the town.
Guo Song ordered the entire army to rest and sent scouts to Yongnian County to find out the news.
News of the arrival of the Jin army spread throughout the town immediately, and the whole town was in a state of excitement. The largest family patriarch in the town, Mr. Zhang, accompanied by more than a dozen elders and dozens of fat pigs came to express condolences to the army.
Guo Song heard that some people were coming to reward the army, so he hurriedly came to greet them in person. Liu Qiang, the marching commander, introduced Guo Song to them. Guo Song did not reveal his identity and made a temporary guest appearance as Yao Jin.
"This General Yao is the number one general under the King of Jin. He can fully represent His Highness the King of Jin. If you have any ideas, you can tell General Yao."
Guo Song smiled and nodded, "If you have any ideas, feel free to speak up, and I will tell His Highness King Jin truthfully."
When the old men heard that he was the first general under the command of King Jin, everyone was surprised and happy. A dozen old men quickly knelt down to pay homage, "See General Yao!"
"No need to be polite, let's sit down and talk."
The soldiers moved more than a dozen large rocks. Guo Song asked everyone to sit down and asked the soldiers to compensate the people for each pig with three hundred catties of wheat. Everyone thanked them again and again.
Zhang Yuanwai sighed and said: "Your army arrived just in time. The end of this month is the deadline to pay military expenses. Everyone is worried to death. On average, each family has to pay five guan. My family has a larger population and has to pay 30 yuan."
Guan, even if I lose everything, I can’t afford it!”
"The military expenses I mentioned are the military expenses for raising cavalry?"
"Exactly! Many people still owe the military expenses for the previous year. Add this year's military expenses, and their families will be ruined."
"Can I still owe it?" Guo Songxiao asked.
Another old man said: "In the past few years, the local government collected the money on behalf of the government. If he really couldn't hand it over, Governor Cui wouldn't force him to do it. He would just write an IOU and wait until next year. But I heard that Li Wujun was angry because he paid too little.
Yes, this year the army will come to collect taxes in person, and the deadline is the end of this month. If the taxes are not paid by the end, the army will come down to raid houses and arrest people."
"How is the summer grain harvest this year?"
Guo Songcha changed the topic and asked with a smile: "The wheat seems to be growing well."
"This year is good, but last year was not good. We were hit by a drought. There was no rain for four months. Even the rivers dried up. The entire autumn harvest was reduced by 40%."
“What to grow in autumn?”
"Generally, corn is grown, and the yield is very low, only one or two hundred catties per acre. In fact, it is not as good as growing beans, which have a larger yield and can also be eaten as food."
“After a year of busy work, you won’t have much money left!”
Everyone shook their heads with a wry smile, and an old man said with tears: "Wherever I have any money left, I owe a lot of debt. It's good to wear the same clothes for ten years and eat half full. Salt is very expensive here. A bucket of salt."
It costs 1,500 cents to sell for it. Every year, just eating salt consumes almost all the surplus food. Don’t even think about other clothes and daily necessities. The bowls and pots we use at home are decades old and we don’t have money to replace them! Now we still need them.
Who can afford to pay more than ten thousand dollars in military expenses?"
Speaking of sadness, everyone couldn't help crying. Guo Song comforted everyone for a long time and promised everyone that he would persuade His Highness the King of Jin to exempt Mingzhou from taxes for three years and reduce the price of salt to 130 Wen.
, everyone thanked him profusely.
Next to him, Yao Jin sighed: "Now I have experienced the cruelty of the feudal town. The salt tax alone costs more than a thousand yuan, and you also have to pay military expenses. This is equivalent to eating meat and drinking blood, and then knocking the bones and sucking out the marrow. It's too miserable."
"This is also Li Wujun. He only has a few states in his territory, but he has to support 50,000 troops. People like Tian Yue and Li Na have a larger territory, so their situation will be better. The same is true for Zhu Si. The key is population. Li Wujun's population
Too few, so in order to support the feudal town, he can only exploit it desperately."
At this time, a soldier rushed to report: "Your Highness, people from the Jinwei Mansion want to see you!"
Guo Song was startled, nodded and said: "Bring him to see me!"
The soldiers hurried away, and Yao Jin smiled and said: "They should be coming from Xindu!"
"It should be, it must be Li Wujun's information."
Not long after, the soldiers came forward with a young man. The young man knelt down on one knee and paid homage: "I am a humble Zhang Niu'er, a member of the Jin Wei Mansion stationed in Xindu, please see His Highness the King of Jin!"
"Thank you for your hard work. Do you have any important information?"
"Your Highness, I am here to deliver a message. Li Wujun sent 23,000 people to support Mingzhou. Three thousand cavalry went ahead. Li Wujun personally led an army of 20,000 people to follow. The departure time was noon the day before yesterday. I was almost at the same time.
The cavalry set off at the same time."
"It's only two days!"
Guo Song frowned slightly, the time was different from what he expected, and he asked again: "Xindu County is more than three hundred miles away, can you get there in two days?"
"Your Majesty, this is all plains, and there are no pedestrians on the road. I am taking the old road, which is forty or fifty miles closer than the newly built official road. I can really make it there by galloping on a fast horse."
"Have the cavalry arrived in Yongnian County?" Guo Song asked.
"When I passed through Yongnian County, they had not arrived yet, but they are probably here now."
Guo Song nodded and said: "Give him fifty taels of silver and take him down to rest!"
"Thank you for the gift, Your Highness!"
Zhang Niuer followed the soldiers down.
Guo Song thought for a moment and asked Yao Jin: "What do you think?"
Yao Jin said: "The three thousand cavalrymen are probably too late to intercept, but Li Wujun's 20,000 troops can intercept them."
"What if three thousand cavalry come out of the city and attack us from both sides?"
"Then divide your forces to deal with it. Don't forget, Your Highness, we have brought two thousand heavy armored infantry."
Guo Song nodded and immediately ordered: "The army packs up and prepares to set off!"
At this moment, another soldier rushed forward to report, "Your Highness, Mingzhou Governor Cui has sent someone here."
"Where are the people?"
The soldiers brought a very capable young man forward. The young man knelt down and saluted and said, "I am a general of Cui Governor's family. I have come here to deliver a message for Cui Governor."
After saying that, he took out a letter and presented it to Guo Song. Guo Song took the letter and read it again. He was surprised and happy at the same time. Cui Hao, the governor, had already incited the three thousand defenders in the city to rebel and closed the city gates to prevent the three thousand cavalry from entering the city.
, three thousand cavalry retreated north again.
The news was a bit unexpected. Guo Song handed the letter to Yao Jin, and he asked the sender, "Why was Cui Governor able to instigate a rebellion against the city's garrison?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, the general's name is Han Yuan, who is also from Qinghe County. His parents, wife and children are currently in Qinghe County."
It turned out that he was from the same hometown, and he took advantage of the reputation of the Cui family of Qinghe. This general would not dare to compete with the famous Cui family of Qinghe no matter what. Maybe this general named Han was a member of the Cui family of Qinghe.
"I understand. You go back and report to Governor Cui, and we will go north immediately."
After the messenger left, Yao Jin said with a smile: "Your Highness, it was really a twist."
Guo Song also said with emotion: "Yes! Originally, I was considering besieging the city for reinforcements, but now something has changed. I'm informing the brothers that they can walk more slowly, don't be too hasty, and try to ensure the physical strength of the soldiers."
Half an hour later, the army packed up and continued to set off. At the same time, Li Wujun led an army of 20,000 people and entered the border of Mingzhou.
Li Wujun was originally called Wang Wujun. He was originally a subordinate of Li Weiyue in the feudal town. Not long after the first battle of the feudal town, Wang Wujun killed Li Weiyue and surrendered to the court. Dezong Li Shi gave him the surname Li and named him Li.
Zhao Guogong, Minister of the Ministry of War, attempted to transfer him back to the imperial court and reduce his military power.
Although Wang Wujun accepted the name and changed his name to Li Wujun, he was dissatisfied with the title of Duke of his country. He wanted at least the title of a county king. At the same time, the court's attempt to reduce his military power made him even more angry, so he used Zhu Tao's invasion of the south as an excuse.
Reluctant to serve in the imperial court, Li Shi had no choice but to change his title to the title of King of Zhao County and appoint him as the military governor of Chengde Army, commanding the six states of Heng, Zhao, Shen, Ding, Yi, and Hebei.
In the war with Zhu Tao for Yingzhou, Li Wujun lost. Not only did he not get Yingzhou, but Zhu Tao captured Hengzhou, Dingzhou, and Yizhou. He had to admit defeat to Zhu Tao and seek peace. At this time, Zhu Tao also
Preparing to attack Hedong, the two signed an armistice and alliance agreement.
After the Jingyuan Mutiny, the Zhaoyi Army's military commander Ma Sui abandoned the four prefectures in Hebei and retreated south. Li Wujun and Tian Yue divided the four prefectures in Hebei. Li Wujun got Xingzhou and Mingzhou, and Tian Yue got Xiangzhou and Weizhou.
Among the five states controlled by Li Wujun: Zhao, Shen, Ji, Xing, and Ming, the first three states were his foundation, and the last two states were windfalls, the people were not attached, and the officials were disloyal, so he exploited these two states.
Extremely cruel.
This time the Jin army suddenly sent troops to march into Mingzhou. Li Wujun was very nervous. Although he didn't care about Mingzhou very much, once the Jin army gained a foothold in Mingzhou, his end might be coming, so he
One response was to drive the Jin army back to Hedong.
On the one hand, he sent people to contact Tian Yue, hoping that Tian Yue would attack the Jin army from the south, while he led his army to attack from the north. The two armies attacked from the north and the south, and the Jin army could not stand in Hebei.