Troubled times: Start practicing spiritual practice by taking care of your sister-in-law

Chapter 293 Inspection and Arrangement

Since the Wu family decided to spend money to buy peace, they sent people across the river to Linzhou to find out the news. If Chen Mo really came to Jiangdong to fight them, they could pay in advance to eliminate the disaster.

Therefore, although Chen Mo's construction of the shipyard was carried out in secret, it could not escape the eyes and ears of interested people. The Wu family has been operating in Jiangdong for thousands of years, so naturally they have their own people in the north of Linzhou.

When I learned that the other party was building ships and docks during this period, I was shocked, so I immediately returned to Jiangdong and told the family owner the news.

In order to confirm the authenticity of the news, the head of the family, Wu Yanqing, sent his son Wu Changlin to investigate in person.

Early in the morning, Wu Changlin led people to the county town called Qiantang, which is near Tianjiang in the north of Linzhou.

Qiantang is a small county. There are no famous nobles in the city, and there are not many places of interest. Because it is close to the river and there are few fields, the people in the city make a living by fishing. Therefore, compared with Linzhou, Qiantang is Other counties appear a bit poor.

Without money, the yamen would not spend money to build a dock. There was only a small dock built by the people voluntarily for fishing boats to dock.

The water level at the pier is not deep. Once a ship with a large size and large draft approaches the shore, it will immediately run aground.

In fact, when he was young, family connections allowed Wu Changlin to serve as the magistrate of Qiantang County for a period of time. But at that time, he was young and energetic, so this small official was not to his liking, and he was not interested in the job.

So he threw down his resignation letter and walked away, not wanting to take the job again.

A small county magistrate that ordinary people can't get through their lifetime of hard work can be easily thrown away by aristocrats.

I haven’t been to Qiantang for more than ten years, but Wu Changlin is still somewhat familiar with this small county in his memory.

He took his men and servants to the place he remembered. It was a tavern more than ten years ago, but now, it has become a herbal tea stall.

Wu Changlin asked his men to hand a piece of silver to the vendor at the herbal tea stall and borrow his seat to sit down and rest.

Servants rushed forward, laying carpets, moving tables, and carrying food boxes. If the situation did not allow it, there would be a beauty holding a pipa and humming a tune.

The location and environment are good, close to the river, but the economy in Qiantang County is in recession, and the cost of wine is relatively high, so the selling price is also high. It is easy to make ends meet when selling, so the previous tavern has not been opened.

As for the herbal tea stall, the shop is small and the cost is not high. Recently, many people have come to the riverside, and the vendors have made some money.

The merchant watched Wu Changlin stare at the dock not far away and said, "I don't know what the government is thinking. There are not many people in Qiantang, so why would they build such an open dock?"

The vendor quickly served a bowl of herbal tea and placed it in front of Wu Changlin.

For the merchant, he did not know that a new shipyard had recently been built in Qiantang County.

The food in a small country shop is vulgar and even a bit unsightly.

Wu Changlin glanced at it and didn't even think about picking it up.

At this moment, the servant next to him had already set up the fire, put Tianquan water from Jiangdong Deep Pool into the pot, and cooked sour plum soup.

There was even a cook among the servants, who took out food from the food box and cooked it for Wu Changlin on the spot.

The vendor looked at Wu Changlin dumbfounded.

Where did this noble person come from? He was so grand and brought a cook, a pot, and food with him.

Even the county magistrate doesn't have this kind of pomp.

Wu Changlin ignored the merchant's words and looked at the dock not far away.

After Chen Mo captured Linzhou, he claimed to have 100,000 soldiers and horses sharpening their swords. From the perspective of Linzhou, he advanced to Huaizhou and retreated to Jiangdong.

Chen Mo had previously signed a non-aggression treaty with King Huai, and now he was building a dock in Qiantang County. He was going head-to-head, leaving Wu Changlin at his back.

He said casually: "The government is building a dock to build ships. There are mountains on both sides of the river here and the location is narrow. It is an excellent ship outlet."

"You must have a keen eye, you can see it at a glance." When the merchant saw the visitor's extraordinary status, he flattered him and said with a smile: "It's a pity that the water is shallow and there are few fish. Those merchant ships going to Jiangdong and Jiangnan don't know how to do it." Come this way.

When the government built the dock recently, a lot of river mud was excavated, almost piling up into a hill. "

After saying that, he asked tentatively: "Are you here to play?"

"Ah."

Wu Changlin replied casually and lost interest, minding his own business.

Can't wait any longer.

If he waits for Chen Mo to prepare everything, he won't be able to buy peace even if he spends money.

"It's time to meet the Marquis of Pingting County."

Wu Changlin murmured in his heart. At this time, the sour plum soup had been cooked and the servant handed it to Wu Changlin.

Wu Changlin held it in his hand. The steaming sour plum soup cooled down instantly. In this hot weather, there was still a little frost on the bottom of the bowl.

He took a sip of sour plum soup and spat it out casually: "Why is this sour plum soup so sour?"

It's already June now.

……

When leaving Linzhou, Chen Mo did a lot of things. First, he went to meet the new naval recruits recruited in Linzhou, which were the newly formed Fish Scale Guards.

At present, a total of more than 2,000 people have been recruited. Nangong Wen has very strict requirements for his soldiers, and being able to swim is the foundation.

If you don’t know how to swim, you will be eliminated in the first round. Well, in order to show his respect for the Nangong family, Chen Mo made Nangong Wen the captain of the Fish Scale Guard, but arranged for Liu Ze to be his deputy.

After that, I went to the barracks to see the newly recruited soldiers who were trapped in the formation.

There are a total of 5,000 soldiers in Linzhou, with Wei Qing in charge and Hu Qiang as his deputy.

When Chen Mo issued this order, there were still some complaints among the Shen Yong Guards. They felt that Hu Qiang was also an old man in the army. He followed Chen Mo when he was in Fuze Village and was among the first batch of people to follow Chen Mo.

Now they are not as good as these latecomers.

Of course, this is not only about Hu Qiang, but also Cui Shuang, Sun Meng, and Liu Ze. Each of them has more power than the old men like Zhang He, Han Wu, and Hu Qiang. Even the captured generals Shao Jinneng and The status of Wen Heng and others is also rising steadily.

And although these old people have been promoted to captains in the military and enjoy the salaries of captains, the rights in their hands are shrinking little by little.

For example, Zhang He, Han Wu, and Hu Qiang were all responsible for managing the Divine Guard before, but now they have gradually retreated.

These criticisms naturally reached Chen Mo's ears through the initially established supervisory guards.

Chen Mo didn't think about this either.

The abilities of old people like Han Wu and Hu Qiang can no longer keep up with the development of the army. The ability here refers to management.

When the number of people was small, Han Wu and Hu Qiang were fine.

But when the number of people increased, and they were in charge of thousands or even thousands of people, they were a little at a loss.

In addition, it may be that they haven't read books since they were young. Even if Chen Mo forces them to read and read to improve themselves, they can't learn at all.

Ling Li told Chen Mo twice about Hu Qiang alone, saying that Hu Qiang was sleepy and wandering in his mind several times during class.

If Chen Mo hadn't seen that he had recently become a warrior, this deputy would not have been assigned to him.

As the saying goes, no matter how advanced the times are, if you cannot keep up, you will be destined to be eliminated.

Although this was cruel to the old men in the army, Chen Mo had adapted to it after dealing with Zhang He.

There is a saying that goes, people who are soft-hearted are not suitable for power.

The higher you stand, the cooler your mind becomes.

After that, Chen Mo went to the Shenwu Guards Camp in Linzhou. In the military tent, Chen Mo tapped his right index finger twice on the long table in front of him. Cui Shuang and other generals below held their breath and concentrated. Listen respectfully.

"On the Qiantang side, send a thousand people there first. It's up to Cui Shuang to decide which people will go first," Chen Mo said.

"promise."

Currently, Cui Shuang is in charge of the Shenwu Guards in Linzhou.

Chen Mo added: "There has been no fighting for more than half a year, but training cannot be left behind. After returning to Yuzhou this time, I will issue a document. Today next year, I will hold an all-army drill in Yuzhou. The people of the Fifth Guards You must all be present when the martial arts test takes place, and let me see the results of your training during this period."

"promise."

Cui Shuang was shocked when he heard this and silently thought about the first batch of candidates.

Finally, Chen Mo went to Zuo Lianglun to discuss and gave him the military talisman, but he temporarily mobilized the Shenyong Guards in Linzhou and asked him to pay attention to Qiantang and the Fish Scale Guards.

We must pay attention to it, and we must be vigilant.

If all the fish scale guards and warships that he had worked so hard to build were taken away by Nangong Wen, Chen Mo would have nowhere to cry.

Before he was in a certain position, Chen Mo often complained about the emperor's mental skills, checks and balances, and being wary of those around him. Can't you trust someone without reservation? But after reaching this position, Chen Mo's thoughts It just changed.

All of this is necessary.

For example, Cao Cao, was he naturally suspicious?

I don't think so, it's all caused by some acquired factors.

"I understand." Zuo Lianglun lowered his head and handed over his hands, and then told Chen Mo about the affairs of Linzhou.

"Master Marquis, affected by the war, there are some refugees in Huaizhou who fled to our Linzhou by boat. Should we drive them out?" Zuo Lianglun said.

When Chen Mo heard about this, he couldn't help but feel a little weird.

In early April, the Tianshi Army sent troops to attack Shan County.

Although Shan County was captured again, the casualties paid were huge. Later, the Tianshi Army entered Yuzhou and suffered defeats. However, at the end of May, the situation reversed, and the Huai Army suffered consecutive defeats.

"Have these refugees been investigated? Are there any spies from those forces?" Chen Mo asked.

Zuo Lianglun said: "I went back to the Marquis and checked, and everything is clean."

"Then according to your opinion, how do you deal with these refugees?"

"The lower official will send people to recruit them, with a limit of 1,000 households. Aren't the trap guards recruiting new soldiers now? You can ask the trap guards to pick people. After they are brought back, they will be registered and registered, and they will be the recruits of the trap guards. According to the Marquis The military household system changed these household registrations into military households, and after allocating fields to them, they were naturally resettled."

After saying that, Zuo Lianglun took a breath and continued: "As for those who are not selected, you can implement the Qingyang New Law (Green Miao Law) promulgated by you, Lord Marquis, so that they can settle down in Linzhou and quickly resume production."

(End of this chapter)