weaving

Chapter 1037 The constellations descend to earth
On February [-]th, the Cavalry Department of the Chinese Army of the Healthy Women's Battalion escorted the second wife Yang Liying, sisters from the concubine Liu's family, and Tang Chunru and her party also came to the town.

The female relatives of the family gathered in the town, and Yongningbo Zhang Cheng naturally wanted to go to the general's mansion to meet with them. He even used this to implore the two old ladies and Yang He to move to the headquarters of the General Army Office to live together, which is also convenient. He and the female family members greet each other morning and evening, so that they can enjoy the blessing of being close to their grandchildren.

It can be clearly seen that the old ladies are a little moved, but they still insist on staying here verbally. The picture is a quiet place, not to mention that it is not very far from the General Military Headquarters, and there is not much inconvenience in coming and going.

Zhang Cheng also had no choice but to leave his second wife Yang Liying and his concubine Liu Yan in the general's mansion for the time being, thinking that they were waiting to give birth. After all, there are many female relatives here, and they are all experienced people.

Mrs. Yongningbo, Ji Xuan Zhuyuan also wanted to stay in the general's mansion and accompany her two mother-in-laws, but Zhang Cheng's mother insisted that there were two expectant mothers here, and there was no room for children to play around, let alone the military headquarters. Mistress, that's all.

Finally, it was agreed that Yang Liying and the sisters from the Liu family would stay in the general's office for the time being, while his wife Ji Xuanzhu and his concubine Tang Chunru would return to live in the general's office and take care of Zhang Cheng's daily life nearby.

Zhang Cheng also arranged for someone to replace the plaque in front of the general's mansion with "Yongning Bo's mansion", and put this old house that carried his family's inheritance into a new glory.

…………

On the [-]th, on the Qingyuan Tower at the right of the center of Xuanfu Town, Bo Yongning, General Zhang Cheng of Zhenshuo, and Bian Yongqing, the eunuch of the Supervising Army, climbed to the highest place. The big clock looked around.

For Zhang Cheng, Xuanfu town is both familiar and unfamiliar. Looking at the familiar landscape in front of him, he sighed: "Although the town is strong, Xuanfu is nearly two thousand miles away from the city wall. It is a dangerous pass that needs to be protected. Udo, but it's not easy."

But Bian Yongqing said at the side: "If the generals everywhere are on guard and can do their best, with the danger of the closed wall, how will the captives break through my side wall and enter the interior?"

When Zhang Cheng heard this, he shook his head and smiled wryly: "The border guards don't know something, the frontier army has been owed wages year after year, the soldiers are already naked and starving, not to mention whether the armored battles are still enough.

Even if money and food are allocated occasionally, Cong Chaozhong will go to the local area, drifting away layer by layer, plus the embezzlement of officials and generals, how much will it really be in the hands of soldiers?

How can you and I expect the horses to run fast without giving them grass, how dare you and I expect them to guard the gates of the Xuan Mansion and keep the hometown safe? "

In the past two days, Zhang Cheng was also busy with his own affairs. He had just arrived in the town to take up the post of commander-in-chief, and his subordinates He Biao, Wang Yuanjing, Liu Minshen and others took care of the handover of various military affairs.

As for sorting out the defense of the town, it was completely entrusted to several generals such as Guo Yingxian, Wu Zhizhong, Wei Zhice, and Chen Zheng. Now that Zhang Cheng's family is in the town, naturally there should be no negligence in this matter of defense.

The 260 female cavalry soldiers of the Jianwoying Camp were divided into three places. Among them, in an old village in the west of the city, there were [-] Jianwoying soldiers, [-] war horses and nearly [-] mules and horses. .

In the "Yongningbo Mansion" and Zhenshuo Mansion in the city, [-] female knights were placed in each mansion, and [-] war horses were also kept in the mansion's stables for emergency needs.

Although the town is large, it only has seven city gates and a few key street intersections, such as Zhenshuo Building, Qingyuan Building and other important places. As long as these places are controlled by our own people, we are not afraid of them making any troubles.

At this time, Yongningbo Zhang Cheng and the supervisor Bian Yongqing were standing on Qingyuan Tower. The houses in the city were vividly visible. Not far to the south was the Drum Tower, also known as Zhenshuo Tower.

There is a big drum hanging in that building, which is constantly protecting the army and people in the city every day. The sound of the drum is loud and honest, and it can be heard for more than [-] li.

Yongningbo Zhang Cheng pointed to the fairly tidy Changping Stone Street, and said to Bian Yongqing beside him: "Please look at the supervisor, there is no clean street in a dignified town. Decent, official face, where is it?"

After his reminder, Bian Yongqing, the eunuch of the supervising army, also frowned deeply. In fact, if he came directly to Zhencheng after leaving Beijing, he might not feel much.

But the mistake was that he went to the North Road first, saw the neat and clean washed stone road in Chicheng Castle, and then looked at the town street full of mud and dirt, and a disgusting feeling came over him immediately. heart.

He covered his nose with his hands and sighed: "Don't say that Yang Guozhu is a vulgar warrior, Jiang Yuxu is always a Jinshi, how can he manage a good town into what it is today."

Seeing this, Zhang Cheng hurriedly hit the rails: "Supervisor, the first major task of Benbo's taking office is to thoroughly clean the streets and alleys of the town, except for the main streets and alleys paved with bluestone or blue bricks, and the rest must The streets are paved with crushed stones, supplemented with fine sand, and it will not be easy to ash after it has solidified."

"So good, so good."

Bian Yongqing didn't just ask where the money and food came from. Anyway, the main task of coming out to supervise the army this time was not to consolidate the income and expenditure of the money and food in the Xuanfu. I won't worry too much.

But if he can have a good environment during his time in town, then why would he not do it?

Seeing that he did not object to this, Zhang Cheng further said: "In this way, the cost of money and food will inevitably be huge. Although the capital and guards can still share some of it, but the big head still has to find ways from the merchants in this city."

Bian Yongqing was stunned for a moment, and then he said: "Uncle Yongning also knows that this is a town, not like a remote place like Beilu. If there are any lawsuits because of this, it's better not to involve our family."

"Hey hey hey..."

Zhang Cheng said with a smirk on his face, "It's natural. Benbo will play some tricks when he does things, and he must always be taught to obey obediently.

How could Ben be so reckless that he would involve the general supervisor in this muddy water! "

He then continued with a smile on his face: "However, if this is done beautifully, with the merits of size, or because of this, there will be some surplus of money and food, then naturally the participation of the supervising army will not be missing." planning."

"Ha ha!"

"Hahaha……"

The two laughed in unison, as if there was no one else around, and shocked the guards at the lower level, they didn't know what they were talking about, and they were so happy.

…………

Here, Zhang Chengcai bid farewell to the eunuch Bian Yongqing and returned to Zhenshuo Mansion. Before he could stop, he was informed that Zhang Dou, the former soldier of Liaozhen Ning, Cao Bianjiao, the commander-in-chief of Shanhai Town, Zu Dabi, the commander-in-chief of Jinzhou, and Liu Zhaoji, the commander-in-chief of Jizhen, and Xie Sixin, a confidant and staff member of Hong Chengchou, governor of Jiliao, have visited and have arrived.

"Who sent this message?"

Zhang Chengfang immediately reported back: "Returning to the commander-in-chief, it was General Liu Shizun, the deputy general of the Xuanwu Battalion, and a report from the flying cavalry of Li Yiming, the commander of the security guards, also confirmed this."

"Why are they here in such a hurry?"

Zhang Cheng talked to himself first, and then asked: "When did they arrive in the town, and who accompanied them?"

"Returning to the commander-in-chief, General Liu said in the letter that the head of the Li battalion was afraid of things going wrong because he wanted to check the fields, so he didn't dare to leave without authorization. Because Zhou Ruli, an officer in the Xuanwu camp, was a little familiar with Zhang Bingbei and the generals during the Liao War. , and sent him to accompany him to the town to meet the commander-in-chief."

"Oh. It's the sea monk!"

After pondering for a moment, Zhang Cheng asked again, "Where is Zhang Mingyuan?"

"Mingyuan is here, what's the order of the commander-in-chief?"

"Ming Yuan, go find Wei Zhice outside the city, and go with him to meet the generals of Ji and Liao on behalf of Uncle Ben."

"Here!"

After Zhang Mingyuan received the order, he didn't dare to delay a little bit, he turned around and left the side hall, and went out to the gate.

Here, Zhang Chengfang then reported the news about the intrusion into the Kaifeng Mansion surrounded by rebels Cao. Resistance is indeed not easy to attack, so they withdrew their troops in early February.

However, at this time, more than ten cities including Xuzhou, Yuzhou, Chenliu, Tongxu, Weishi, Weichuan, Yanling, Linying, Changge, Xinzheng, and Sishui, which belonged to the surrounding area of ​​Kaifeng, have all been rebels. pulled out.

Although the city of Kaifeng was as strong as ever this time, and was not breached by the thriving bandits, it was already in jeopardy. The Kaifeng prefecture where it was located was almost full of bandits.

And Kaifeng is like a lone boat in the turbulent waters of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River. Its overturning is inevitable, and it is only struggling between morning and evening!

But this news is also a good thing for Zhang Cheng. At least now that the siege of Kaifeng has been lifted, depending on the situation, Cao's army will not immediately open the three siege, so he doesn't have to rush to send troops to Yu Province.

In this way, I have a lot of time to deal with the affairs of the Xuanfu, and even if I send troops to Yu Province to suppress the bandits for the second time in the future, I can be more calm.

At this time, seeing that it was still early, Zhang Cheng ordered Zhang Chengfang to send someone to summon He Biao, Wang Yuanjing, Liu Minshen, Guo Yingxian, Wu Zhizhong, Chen Zheng and others to discuss matters.

…………

In the small meeting hall in the middle hall of Zhenshuo Mansion, the charcoal stove is shining with red light, bringing warmth to the hall, and it is like a world apart from the cold spring outside.

Yongningbo's adoptive sons, Zhang Guang and Zhang Jin, filled the tables in front of all the officers and generals with steaming tea, and a burst of tea fragrance instantly filled the entire meeting hall.

Everyone shared and read the several pieces of intelligence and news they had just received. They were not surprised by the arrival of Zhang Dou, Cao Bianjiao, Zu Dabi, Liu Zhaoji and others. They just didn't see Wu Sangui in the list of personnel, but they were a little puzzled .

However, none of the people here thought that Kaifeng City could be so strong. After being besieged twice by the bandit army, they were able to repel the bandit army unscathed and successfully defended the city.

Therefore, among the people present, only Chief Governor Fu He Biao and Staff Officer Wang Yuanjing had participated in the first battle to aid and suppress Henan Province, and He Biao, as always, was less ruthless and did not speak out easily.

But scholar Wang Yuanjing, after these years of military experience, the original weak and sour scholar's personality has disappeared, but he has become a little more heroic, calm and capable.

"The king of Zhou is not comparable to the Fufan of Luoyang, and the current governor Gao Mingheng is a solid minister. In addition, Chen Yongfu has also taken over as the commander-in-chief of Henan. With his full cooperation, and the walls are high and thick, Kaifeng is not easy to break through." Wang Yuanjing. talking.

Liu Minshen also added: "Crossing against the enemy is not what it used to be, especially since he went into business in Luoshan and hibernated, invaded Henan Province, and attacked Luoyang, his troops have become more powerful than before.

It is said that he "fakes benevolence and righteousness to win people's hearts". There are rumors everywhere in Southwest Henan that "the king of Chuang will not pay the food, and every household will open the door to welcome the king of Chuang". It seems that there is "according to Heluo" , Take the world' ambition.

Now, Yu Province seems to have fallen into a situation where "the hungry people from far and near are hoeing away, and those who respond are like flowing water, day and night, and millions of people are called, but the momentum cannot be rushed."

I think that there are all kinds of thieves in existence, but I am afraid that rebellion is the most difficult to control! "

Veteran Guo Yingxian was full of doubts and said: "In the early years, we also followed Yang Shuai and fought against these rebels. Although there are many people, they are no different from mobs. Only the core of more than a thousand people can be called brave. That's all.

How could it become uncontrollable today?

In today's world, we really don't understand. Is it Ding Qirui, Wang Qiaonian, Yang Wenyue and other supervisors who are incompetent, or Zuo Liangyu, Yang Dezheng, Fang Guoan and other generals who are afraid of death and dare not fight? "

He still had the same violent temper, he scolded a group of supervisors and ministers and many general soldiers all over the place, but only the real treasure general soldier Hu Dawei was let go, so it can be seen that he still remembered the story of Julu fighting the Tartars together camaraderie.

Hearing the discussion of the crowd, Zhang Cheng stood up from his seat, and walked slowly to the middle of the meeting room. He picked up a tongs and pulled it back and forth on the iron cover of the charcoal stove, not knowing what it meant.

After a while, he picked up a black and round lump with tongs, turned around and took a few steps, put it on the table next to He Biao, the chief governor, and said to him: "Old governor, this 'potato' is very ripe. Come on, let’s taste it first, although it’s not as sweet as ‘sweet potatoes’, it’s still rare and delicious.”

Seeing this, He Zhenfu showed a rare smile. He gently stretched the back of his hand towards the "potato" in Zhang Cheng's mouth, as if to test the temperature, and said, "It's still hot."

He immediately withdrew his hand, and said: "The general is really far-sighted, he managed to find such a good thing, this thing that looks like a lump of dirt, I didn't expect it to be so delicious, and it was not only unseen before, but also unheard of. "

At this time, Wang Yuanjing also got a long black thing in front of him, which was also steaming hot. He also tested the temperature first, and then he said: "The general is a star in the sky. Knowing what the predecessors did not know, there is nothing in this world that my general does not know, and there is nothing in the world that my general does not know."

He pointed to the baked potatoes on He Biao's desk and said: "Take this potato as an example, we have never heard of it, how did the general know that he is in the border of Xuanfu?
Therefore, the Great General is the heavenly star sent down from the mortal world by God to save me and others who are suffering.And I was able to meet the great general, follow the great general to make contributions, make the world stable, and the people live in peace and prosperity, which is really a blessing from my previous life. "

"Correct!"

"exactly……"

(End of this chapter)