It had been ten days since Guo Song led his army to occupy Mingzhou. After Li Wujun led his army to retreat north, Guo Song did not continue to go north to Xingzhou, but stabilized the situation and firmly controlled Mingzhou.
To completely occupy Mingzhou, there are three main places to control. The first is Fukou Pass, which is the exit from Hedong. This place must not be lost. If this place is lost, the Jin army in Hebei will be alone, and Guo and Song's Hebei strategy will be difficult to complete.
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Guo Song ordered General Gan Xin to lead 5,000 troops to guard Fukou Pass. For Fukou Pass, 5,000 troops were enough. They had demolished the walls and gates of the western pass, making Fukou Pass no longer dangerous to the east of the river.
Even if it is accidentally captured again by the enemy, it can be quickly recaptured.
Next is Yongnian County, the prefecture's government. Yongnian County is a large city with tall and solid walls and a deep city that can store a large amount of supplies and tens of thousands of troops. As long as the army holds Yongnian County, the Jin army will basically have a foundation in Hebei.
The third place is Handan County. Handan County is a transit place for transporting supplies from Fukouxing to Yongnian County. It is very important. The supplies only need to be transported to Handan County by camel. After arriving in Handan, you can use the Mingshui River to ship.
Transporting it to Yongnian County can save a lot of manpower and material resources.
So during this period of time, Guo Song has been paying attention to this matter. In addition, it is Tian Yue's reaction to the Jin army's eastward expansion. Tian Yue sent 80,000 troops to Anyang County in Xiangzhou, quite ready to go north to Mingzhou. Once
Tian Yue's army moves north, and Li Wujun's army will definitely make a comeback.
If this matter is not properly resolved, Guo Song will not be able to return to Chang'an.
Yongnian County is close to the Mingshui River. The Mingshui River flows through Yongnian County and then flows into the Zhangshui River dozens of miles east. That morning, more than 300 tankers were moored at the Mingshui Pier. Guo Song, accompanied by the governor Cui Hao,
Come and check out this cargo ship.
"To be honest with you, Your Highness, these cargo ships actually came from Qinghe County. They are the property of the Cui family, but they are not under the Cui family's name, but under the name of the Cui family's chief steward. They took a few detours and came from Xiangzhou.
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"Thanks to the Cui family this time!"
Guo Song smiled and said to Cui Hao: "Please tell your family master that I will bear in mind the support of the Cui family."
Cui Hao was overjoyed and said politely: "We look forward to Your Highness coming to Hebei every day. It is also an honor for the Cui family to be able to do our best for Your Highness."
"Don't worry! Mingzhou has taken the first step. As long as the first step is taken steadily, it will become more and more stable in the future, and sooner or later, Hebei will be unified."
The two came to the dock outside the city and saw hundreds of tank boats parked in the river. The first steward quickly stepped forward to salute. Cui Hao introduced: "This is the steward of the Cui family in charge of freight.
His name is Liu Qian. He is very capable and knows all the rivers in Hebei. Your Highness may be able to use him in the future."
Guo Song was immediately interested. Such people were indeed what he needed the most. He nodded and said with a smile, "Manager Liu, you've had a hard time coming here."
Only then did Liu Qian realize that the general in front of him was the famous Prince Jin. He was so frightened that he quickly knelt down, but Guo Song held his arm and said with a smile: "Manager Liu
I'm very grateful for you working for me, so there's no need to be too polite!"
Liu Qian was moved in his heart. He didn't expect that His Highness the King of Jin could be so approachable. He is truly a big shot!
Guo Song asked again: "Manager Liu came from Xiangzhou, didn't Tian Yue intercept the fleet?"
Liu Qian said quickly: "This matter is indeed a bit strange. The fleet was detained by the army in Xiangzhou for a day, and then their Prime Minister Wang came over to ask about the situation and ordered it to be released."
"Who is this Prime Minister Wang?" Guo Song asked with great interest.
Cui Hao next to him laughed and said: "This Wang Daxiang's name is Wang You, and he is the prime minister of Wei. Tian Yue has three prime ministers. The other two are Hu E and Xu Shize. Among the three, Wang You is the main one. Most people call him Wang Daxiang.
He is also Tian Yue’s military advisor.”
It turned out to be Wang You. Of course Guo Song knew that Wang You was a very powerful counselor. Tian Yue was more than brave but lacking in strategy. It was Wang You who gave advice and gained Tian Yue's trust.
"Does Wang You know that you are the Cui family's fleet?" Guo Song continued to ask.
Liu Qian nodded, "He knew, he also knew the villain, and then he asked the villain where the fleet was going? What was it going to do? The villain said it was going to Julu Manor to transport grain, so he gave the order to let them go."
This is a bit interesting. Guo Song believed that Wang You had guessed the purpose of the fleet and it must be for his own use, so he actually let it go. This is a bit subtle.
"Your Highness, is Tian Yue sending troops to Xiangzhou just to show off?" Cui Hao also sensed something fishy here.
Guo Song smiled slightly and said, "I don't know if it's just a show, but one thing I'm sure of is that they must know the news about the fall of Huaizhou."
...........
Early the next morning, Guo Song checked the progress of repairing the city wall on the city wall. Yongnian County was captured by the Anlushan rebels during the Anshi Rebellion, and a section of the city wall more than fifty feet long was destroyed. Later, simple repairs were carried out, but due to lack of financial resources, the repairs could not be completed.
It was really sloppy and superficial, and it would collapse as soon as it was lightly hit by a battering ram.
However, Guo Song could not tolerate this haste. He ordered that this section of the city wall, which was dozens of feet long, be demolished and renovated. It must be as strong as the original.
Thousands of civilians were busy burning bricks and transporting earth. Although the city of Yongnian County was large and the city wall was thirty-five miles in circumference, its population was only over 40,000. More than half of the original population of nearly 100,000 had disappeared. Looking for six or seven
It is not easy to build a city with thousands of people. Of course, Guo Song announced the abolition of the horse tax and exempted Mingzhou from taxes for three years, which made the people rejoice and support them. After the recruitment order was posted, seven people were recruited in just two days.
Thousands of people.
Guo Song would not let them work for nothing, and settled the wages at a hundred cents a day, and the payment was made with old money, which could be exchanged for two hundred cents issued by Li Wujun, which could buy a bucket of rice. This was already considered a very high wage in Hebei.
, usually a small amount of fifty to eighty cents a day.
Guo Song asked the supervisor: "Does this section only need to be repaired in total?"
The overseer bowed and said: "Reporting to your highness, there are actually two parts of the city wall that need to be repaired. This is one, and the one on the west side. The west part is in disrepair, and the bricks and stones are rotten. Use a hammer to gently repair it.
It was knocked into powder, and General Yao asked for reconstruction. The two places combined are about 260 feet."
"Wait a minute!"
Guo Song interrupted him and asked: "The west wall needs to be rebuilt, but what about other places?"
"Your Highness does not know that Yongnian County was rebuilt in the fifth year of Kaiyuan. At that time, for unknown reasons, a 200-foot section of the city wall on the west side was left unbuilt. It was built during the Daye Period of the Sui Dynasty. The other city walls are not a big problem, except for the west side.
The two-hundred-foot-long city wall is in decay, so only that section needs to be rebuilt."
Guo Song nodded and asked: "How long will it take to repair it?"
"We found some old city bricks from the city, but they are not enough. We have to bake new bricks. The main thing is that it takes time to bake the bricks. In half a month at the latest, the repairs will be basically completed."
It would actually take half a month. If Tian Yue's army came to attack, there would be no danger of defending, but Guo Song had no choice but to cover it with water and earth, and block it with soldiers.
At this time, a soldier came to report, "Your Highness, Tian Yue's envoy is here."
Guo Song was startled and asked, "Where is he?"
"Waiting at the government office."
Guo Song nodded, "Please wait a moment, I'll be there right away."
It's really interesting. Tian Yue stationed 80,000 troops in Xiangzhou, but he sent an envoy here. What do they mean? Do they want to pay homage first and then send troops?
Guo Song returned to the government office and saw Cui Hao talking to a middle-aged man in the lobby. He was short in stature and looked a bit like a deer-headed rat.
As he walked up the steps, the soldiers shouted, "His Royal Highness the King of Jin is here!"
Cui Hao and the middle-aged man stood up quickly. Guo Song walked into the lobby. The middle-aged man quickly stepped forward and bowed, "I am Xu Shize. I am the Sima of King Wei's tent. Please see His Highness King Jin!"
It turned out to be Xu Shize, one of the three ministers, who was in charge of finance and taxation in the Wei State and was considered an important minister under Tian Yue.
Guo Song waved his hand and said with a smile: "Mr. Xu, please sit down!"
"Thank you, Your Highness, for granting me a seat!"
Xu Shize sat down and said: "None of us expected that His Highness the King of Jin would come to Hebei in person. If we had known earlier, we should have prepared a small gift. It is a bit rude."
Guo Song chuckled, "It doesn't matter. If Mr. Xu has the opportunity to go to Chang'an, it will be enough to bring two bags of soil from Weizhou."
Cui Hao next to him was startled. He didn't expect His Highness Prince Jin to be so direct, frank, and aggressive. He felt a little uneasy. This was too disrespectful to Tian Yue.
Xu Shize looked embarrassed, laughed dryly and said, "I will report the truth to His Highness the King of Wei."
"Why did Mr. Xu come to Mingzhou?" Guo Song asked directly.
"That's right, we got the news that His Highness's army captured Huaizhou..."
Guo Song waved his hand to interrupt him, "It's true, 30,000 troops captured Huaizhou, but Huaizhou is Zhu Si's territory and has nothing to do with King Wei. Why does King Wei care about it?"
Xu Shize finally got used to the rhythm of Guo and Song, and he simply said frankly: "The Jin army's capture of Huaizhou has nothing to do with the King of Wei, and the Jin army's capture of Mingzhou has nothing to do with the King of Wei, but our Xiangzhou is sandwiched between Huaizhou
Between Zhouzhou and Mingzhou, King Wei would like to ask His Highness if the two armies are attacking Xiangzhou."
"Does King Wei want me to give him a reasonable explanation?" Guo Song asked calmly.