lady, please calm down

Chapter 378 Cangzhou

On the tenth day of October, the 12th regiment went north.

After traveling for more than ten days, they arrived in Xiangzhou, where the museum's Li family and his entourage stayed. Qin Dachuan submitted a letter written by Chen Jingyan, the pacifier of Henan Road, to the magistrate of Xiangzhou.

The content of the letter was to ask the local government to assist and cooperate with Li's archaeological work.

Qin Dachuan left a company of sergeants to guard, and then continued to move forward.

The accompanying scholars felt a strong contrast since they left the boundary of Huaibei.

Due to the spillover effect of commerce, prefectures and counties closer to Huaibei are more prosperous, and vice versa.

In short, the journey along the way is generally a process of gradually moving from a prosperous and stable place of abundance to decline and disorder.

Especially after crossing the Yellow River, the land in Hebei is all dilapidated and yellow after winter.

In recent years, the Huaibei Army has been active on Hebei Road and has gained a good reputation.

After learning that this neat, majestic and mighty march was the Huaibei Army, many people boldly stood on the roadside and watched.

Compared with Huaibei, the people here are thinly dressed, skinny, and lifeless. Some children are actually barefoot in early winter.

It’s hard to imagine how they survived the bitter cold winter.

Among the ranks of scholars, there are local scholars in Huaibei, scholars sent to Huaibei by Tokyo for reform, and scholars from the Zhou Dynasty. Regardless of their stance and whether they agree with what the King of Chu has done, they have not yet gone through the dyeing vat of 'official career'. Yan Yan, who has an innocent heart, can't help but feel sad when he sees the miserable situation of the local people.

On October 23, the 12th Regiment stayed overnight outside Ping'en County in the middle of Hebei Road. Along with more than 20 soldiers, including Wei Mingfu, a scholar from Zhou Dynasty, and Huang Shiqian, a scholar from Tokyo, they asked to see Qin Dachuan.

After calling people into the tent, Qin Dachuan almost couldn't hold back the curse after hearing Huang Shiqian's hesitant expression of demands.

Seeing the hardship of the local people, Huang Shiqian and others wanted Qin Dachuan to allocate part of the military rations to the people.

"Do you want the prince to take my head?"

Insufficient and overdue military rations are both serious crimes. Qin Dachuan felt that these people were stupid in studying.

But Wei Mingfu, a scholar of the Zhou Dynasty, said plausibly: "I have always heard that the King of Chu loves his people like his own son. If he saw that the people here were hungry, he would definitely not blame the general."

"Hahaha" Qin Dachuan laughed angrily, "This military ration is the survival food for the frontline soldiers! Defending the enemy's borders is our duty as soldiers, but how to keep the people fed is the business of you scholars! You can't govern it? It’s a good place, but it requires me to take food from the soldiers’ mouths. How can there be such truth in the world?”

This is true. Civil servants in various places are called the parents of the same place. The people under their rule are hungry and cold, so naturally they have greater responsibilities.

It is said that the world's scholars are one and the officials are incompetent, and they, the scholars, have no glory in their faces.

The scholars' whimsical idea of ​​"borrowing military rations" failed, and they were scolded by Qin Dachuan. The scholars secretly held their breath and only stayed in the northern part of Hebei Road, where they worked hard to make some achievements for the sake of the world's scholars. People get their names righted!

Two days further north, the weather became increasingly cold.

On the 25th, the team entered the boundary of Fucheng

But it is like a world away from other prefectures and counties on Hebei Road. Although the local area has not built as many new houses as in Huaibei, the vitality visible to the naked eye is full of fields.

Smooth and abundant irrigation ditches, regularly furrowed fields, and well-organized villagers

Although it was the first time for everyone to come to Hebei Road, the Huaibei scholars were already familiar with it. They seemed to think that under the rule of the Huaibei clique, this place should be like this.

But the scholars of Tokyo and Zhou were astonished. It was only more than a hundred miles away from Ping'en County. How could the two places be so different?

Chen Chu greeted him ten miles south of the city, and Qin Dachuan was flattered.

With Chen Chu's current power, he didn't have to be so polite. He insisted on doing so just because he was happy. It was just like when relatives from his hometown came to visit and support him with specialties from his hometown when he was working hard in other places.

In addition to the twelfth regiment, there are also village officials and civilian husbands who are urgently needed by Chen Chu this time. Dispersing these people and stationing them in each village is undoubtedly the fastest way to build grassroots mobilization and organizational capabilities.

Among the civilian husbands, there is also a women's team of more than 300 people, most of whom are active members such as military family members.

If the war really comes to a point where it is necessary to fortify the walls and clear the country, women, who account for half of the population, will also need to organize themselves and do some work in providing logistical support and caring for the wounded.

Most of these Huaibei women participated in women's organization work during the Tongshan Rebellion and the Huaibei Rebellion.

Their presence can greatly alleviate the worries of soldiers.

On that day, seeing people coming from their hometown, the morale of the Huaibei Army on Hebei Road was greatly shaken!

In the afternoon, Chen Chu summoned Qin Dachuan, Chen Yinglang and others to have a brief meeting with Hebei Lu Wenwu.

Chen Chu informed everyone of the current situation based on the intelligence he had just received, "The Jin Kingdom court has been arguing so far, and the leader has not yet been determined. In short, in the past one or two months, Jin Kingdom reinforcements have been difficult to arrive. Our army must seize this opportunity to repair the city wall. Excavate tunnels and organize training to strengthen the people."

This news surprised Chen Yinglang. The reason why the Jin Kingdom was able to sweep across Liao and Zhou Dynasty was due to its powerful maneuverability that came and went like the wind.

But it has been more than a month since the Qi Phnom Penh disaster, and Jin Guo has not even confirmed the coach, which is really not the case.

What he couldn't understand was just because Chen Chu didn't tell the whole story about the internal situation of the Jin Kingdom.

Due to the majestic power of Marshal of the Army and King Hailing Wan Yanliang, the Jin Emperor did not want the former to take advantage of this border disaster to control the army again.

The Jin Emperor wanted to recommend Wanyan Zongbi, who was loyal to him, as the commander-in-chief, but Zongbi was old and had been ill recently. Jin Guoxun Guiduo did not agree with this appointment.

Both parties were embarrassed at the moment.

It's just that Chen Chu couldn't make these Jin Kingdom's secrets too clear, otherwise the Jin Kingdom's hidden secrets might be exposed.

"But everyone cannot take it lightly. After all, there are nearly 20,000 Han, Bo, Jurchen and other Jin troops on the other side. In a few days, the boundary river will be frozen, and our army will have no danger to defend it. The camps along the coast need to be careful to prevent them from crossing the border to attack."

At the time of application, the brief meeting ended, and Chen Chu led all the civil and military officials to greet Qin Dachuan and others.

On the way to the banquet hall, he specifically called Chen Yinglang to his side. After a few pleasantries, he mentioned the latter's work arrangements, "Will Yinglang go to Cangzhou?"

"Cangzhou?"

Before setting off, Chen Yinglang had looked at the map of Hebei Road in detail. Cangzhou is at the northeast corner of Hebei Road, with the sea to the east and the boundary river to the north.

It can be regarded as the most remote place in the boundary river defense line.

This place is two hundred miles away from Fucheng where Qi and Jin are facing each other, and is somewhat beyond the scope of the battlefield.

"Yes, the current situation is that Jin is attacking and defending together. Although Cangzhou is narrow, it must be guarded against. Our army is stationed on Hebei Road for a short period of time, and there is no time to sort out Cangzhou. If Yinglang goes there, he can coordinate the army and the people on my behalf to guard against the Jin army. Cross-border sneak attack from downstream."

Hearing that Chen Chu had reached this point, Chen Yinglang, who originally wanted to stay in the heart of the battlefield and make contributions, quickly put away his slightly disappointed mood and accepted.

The reception banquet was held at the county government office. In addition to Chen Chu, Cai Si and other civil and military officials from Fucheng, as well as Qin Dachuan, Chen Yinglang and others, there was also a table of female guests sitting in the side hall.

They were the female representatives of Beiyuan. According to Qin Dachuan, the leader of the women was Ding Jiao, the younger sister of the new deputy commander of the 15th regiment. Chen Chu specially brought a cup to offer a toast.

Wu Kui, Peng Er, Zhou Liang and others among the old Tongshan brothers knew that Ding Jiao was here, and they all coaxed the eldest son to come and toast.

The eldest son is honest and sincere. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, he still feels sorry for Ding Jiao, so he went to the side hall amidst the strange noises from his brothers.

Seeing her eldest son enter, Ding Jiao stood up in a panic. She only glanced at her eldest son, and her cheeks that were already red from the plateau became a little redder.

Just like back then.

"A girl from the Ding family."

"Brother eldest son."

The two of them each shouted, then they didn't know what to say. The eldest son racked his brains to come up with a sentence, "Um, does the Ding family girl have a child?"

When Ding Jiao, who was lowering his head, heard this, he couldn't help but raise his head and glance at the eldest son in a mighty armor. Her eye sockets suddenly turned red, and she lowered her head again and said nothing. The woman here is an officer of the Huaibei Army and has a lot of family members. It is natural that some people know something about the eldest son and Ding Jiao.

Seeing that this stupid guy was not opening the pot, someone immediately said dissatisfiedly on behalf of Ding Jiao: "Yao Lushuai, the girl from the Ding family is still unmarried, where did she get the child? I don't want some ruthless men. She lives in her heart." You are such a fool, how can you pretend to be someone else?"

Immediately, a woman sitting next to me reminded her in a low voice: "Say less."

Even the eldest son was a simple and honest man, but he could tell that the woman was nodding at him, so he could only grin awkwardly.

But for some reason, the eldest son suddenly felt a little sad when he heard that Ding Jiao was still unmarried and saw that her eyes were red.

The next day, Chen Yinglang took Lu Yuanke, Zhu Chun, and women such as Minfu Baibai and Ding Jiao to the northeast along the boundary river.

A month ago, Qin Shengwu, commander of the 1st Battalion and 1st Company of the 5th Regiment, had led his headquarters to the local area and stationed squads and platoons at the Suibao along the river to serve as a warning.

Chen Yinglang took on the job of inspection envoy, responsible for organizing and coordinating local defense.

Although the probability of the local area being attacked by the Jin soldiers is low, in the event of an enemy attack, it is simply unrealistic to defend a defense zone of dozens of miles with only a company of more than a hundred Huaibei troops.

Major defense matters still rely on a large number of local troops.

Therefore, on the day Chen Yinglang arrived, he went to Cangzhou Fucheng to visit the prefect Hong Tuiye.

Magistrate Hong was very respectful to Chen Yinglang, but when he talked about organizing civilian defense, he remembered that Cangzhou's people have been fierce since ancient times, martial arts practices were prevalent, and stubborn people emerged in endlessly, and even he could not give orders.

In short, I want to organize myself with one core idea, but I can't control them.

Seeing this, Chen Yinglang did not get entangled with Hong Tuoye and inspected the Xiang army the next day. There were two armies stationed in Cangzhou Prefecture, one was the Wuhe Army, whose commander was named Sun Dingqiu; the other was the Wusu Army, whose commander was named Mao Biao.

Although the two of them had set up defenses along the river in accordance with Chen Chu's request, Chen Yinglang was worried after a round of inspection.

Wu Su's army, Mao Biao, was extremely wary of the Huaibei army, which only had one company. He seemed to be worried that his territory would be taken away from him.

Even on Chen Yinglang's inspection mission, he was not cooperative.

Sun Dingqiu of Wu Hejun was respectful, but the army was full of old and weak men. Chen Yinglang couldn't figure out how many actual soldiers the other side had.

After all, the difference in pay is the lifeblood of each military commander, and he will not reveal it easily.

As a result, Chen Yinglang had no way to clearly estimate the combat effectiveness of the Cangzhou Xiang Army.

What worried Chen Yinglang even more was that neither Mao Biao, Sun Dingqiu nor the prefect Hong Tuiye believed that the Jin army would attack Cangzhou.

There are many salt marshes in Cangzhou, resulting in the scarcity of arable land in the territory. It is a notoriously barren land. Even if the Jin army came to Cangzhou, there was not much money, silk and food to plunder.

Furthermore, the salty terrain is not conducive to cavalry operations that require rapid maneuvering.

The above two points, coupled with the fact that Cangzhou is far away from the confrontation site, led to this consensus among all local civil and military forces.

To be honest, Chen Yinglang also feels that Cangzhou is safe, but no matter how small the probability is, he must make the necessary preparations!

Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of the worst.

But let alone the local Xiang army, they are not cooperative at the moment. Even if they are cooperative, Chen Yinglang lacks confidence in them.

Seeing that they had no hope, Chen Yinglang retreated to the next best thing and led Lu Yuanke, Zhu Chun and other scholars to copy the Huaibei model and organize the villagers.

However, the land reform in the countryside of Cangzhou has not yet been completed, and there is a deep gap between the villagers and the government officials. They are very resistant to Chen Yinglang's request to dig tunnels in the winter.

He kept shouting, "How can I have the energy to fight if I don't even have enough to eat?"

Even if some villagers are afraid of the power of the government and have to obey, they just can't work as foreigners.

After a few days, Chen Yinglang and other scholars were extremely depressed.

At this time, they finally realized that they were able to advance the work in Huaibei easily because the King of Chu and his fathers had already completed the top-down organizational construction and interest redistribution.

It's not about how strong their personal abilities are.

But the more difficult it became, it inspired Chen Yinglang and others who took on the important task for the first time to refuse to admit defeat.

On the first day of November, Chen Yinglang made a special trip to Changlutan by the boundary river.

This is the company headquarters of Qin Shengwu of the Huaibei Army stationed in Cangzhou. There is a fire fort that can accommodate more than 20 people.

When Chen Yinglang arrived, Qin Shengwu was standing on the river bank throwing stones on the thin ice of the river. He first threw a stone as big as a chicken egg. The stone hit the ice and made a tinkling sound. The stone bounced and slid towards In the middle of the river.

Qin Shengwu took another fist-sized stone from his deputy Kang Shitou and threw it. This time, the heavier stone made a hole in the ice and got stuck in the crevice.

Qin Shengwu raised his hand, and Kang Shitou handed over a bigger piece.

Chen Yinglang looked at it for a while, stepped forward, casually cupped his hands and said, "Captain Qin is so elegant."

The gesture of this salute was casual, and his tone was a little scornful. After Chen Yinglang arrived in Cangzhou, he stayed up late and ate, and was busy organizing local defenses. However, Qin Shengwu, who also came from Huaibei, still had the time to play children's games by the river. .

Chen Yinglang was naturally dissatisfied.

Qin Shengwu turned to look at Chen Yinglang, but before he spoke, Kang Shitou also heard the scholar's strange aura and couldn't help but refuted: "You know better! Shengwu is testing the thickness of the ice! The thicker the ice, This boundary river can be used by pedestrians and horses!"

"Being able to walk on foot and walk on horseback" means that the boundary river has become a thoroughfare, which is even more disadvantageous for the defending side.

"."

Chen Yinglang couldn't help but feel ashamed that he had ignored such a common sense issue, but his greatest advantage was that he was not pretentious and could adjust right away even if he was embarrassed.

He smiled, bowed deeply to Qin Shengwu, who was about the same age as him, and said seriously: "Captain Qin, since I came to Cangzhou, various affairs have not been going well, so I came here to ask for advice from loyal and brave veterans like Captain Qin!"

Qin Shengwu saw that he gave in so easily, unlike the other scholars who pretended to be tough on three points even when they met someone who didn't understand. He couldn't help but find it funny, and immediately laughed, "Let's go and talk in the castle."

There is a brazier burning in the fort, with wickers inserted next to it, with either cooking cakes or dried meat and fresh fish on them.

Chen Yinglang came up and tore off a piece of fish and tasted it.

The army disliked those who were pretentious the most, so Qin Shengwu became even more fond of Chen Yinglang. He sat down next to the brazier and without washing his hands, he tore the grilled fish in half and handed half a piece to Chen Yinglang. Said: "Tell me, what's the matter?"

Chen Yinglang took the fish and thanked him, and talked in detail about the various hidden worries in Cangzhou today.

After all, we still have insufficient troops.

Not only Cangzhou is facing this situation, but the Huaibei Army is also in the same situation. If Chen Chu had enough troops, I am afraid that the Cangzhou magistrate and the two commanders would have been replaced long ago.

In fact, Qin Shengwu has already thought about the situation in Cangzhou, but there are some things that he is not good at, so he has not taken any action yet.

Seeing Chen Yinglang come for him on his own initiative, he thought for a moment and suddenly said: "I know a heroic figure in Cangzhou, but it's a pity that he is a lowly warrior. If Brother Chen is not afraid of lowering his status and goes to speak with a low profile, he may be able to do something for him." I am in Huaibei, for my brother-in-law’s use.”

"Oh? Brother Qin, please clarify!"

"Pan Xiong, the manager of Cangzhou Prison City Camp"

　Happy New Year to everyone~

　　

　

(End of this chapter)