Delong

Chapter 296

Outside Ban County, heavy snow was blowing up with the cold wind, dancing everywhere, and the sky and the earth were already the same color.

This snow has been seen for the first time the day before yesterday, and it has been intermittent from yesterday to today, and it is indeed majestic.In the huge camp, the soldiers stopped their daily rotation drills, sports games, military fairs and other activities early, but they were still busy with something.

In the south of the center of the camp, there was an overly spacious barracks. Zhang Xing, the leader of the left wing of the Dragon Gang, took a long bench and sat outside the door, staring at the heavy snow above his head in a daze.

The interior of the barracks with a wooden wall behind him was steaming. There were seven or eight paths, plus three or four rows of dozens of desks, full of documents, forms, paper and pens. Wei Xuanding, chief of the gang, Leaders Xiong Bonan and Shan Tonghai, leaders Zhou Xingfan, Yan Qing, Zu Chenyan, Liu Zhouchen, Zhang Jinshu, Dou Lide, Zheng Ting, Lu Mingyue, Sun Xuanzhi, Zhuge Dewei, leading hundreds of military officers and officials, were arguing and thinking And to give orders, plus a dozen guards with spears and messengers and heralds who kept coming and going, it almost turned into a vegetable market.

Only one Jia Yue, fully armored and wearing a half brown fur cloak exclusive to generals, was standing silently by the gate behind Zhang Xing, also staring at the heavy snow above his head in a daze.

"Good snow."

After watching for an indeterminate amount of time, Zhang Xing suddenly sighed on the bench.

"Yes." Jia Yue behind him nodded expressionlessly. "Hei Di benevolently, if there is no this snow, Hebei will not be able to survive next year."

Obviously, with the arrival of the heavy snow, everyone has already realized the strategic significance of this snow, no matter whether they have paid attention to it long ago or realized it later.

After a while, Jia Yue came again and asked, "Did you wait for this snow before?"

"Yes." Zhang Xing nodded. "But I didn't expect to wait... and I also didn't expect that there would be so many troubles after I came."

"It's better than nothing." Jia Yue could only say so. "Trouble is only temporary."

Zhang Xing also nodded.

Besides, these days, Zhang Dalong's head nests in the winter camp here in Ban County, of course there is no problem, and of course there is no problem in reorganizing the army, killing people, allocating farmland, and holding sports games... No matter who it is, it can be said that he acts decisively, saying His methods are cruel or feminine, but few people say that his actions are unreasonable.

But in fact, Zhang Xing knew very well that this was not the real reason why he stayed still for a long time.

With so many soldiers and horses and decisive victories, they can always be divided up to do other things, and reliable troops can always be sent to take the opportunity to expand the results of the battle.

But he never moved, and sat and watched the defense of the three counties resumed, and even the new Bohai prefect of the imperial court arrived, but he didn't dare to go from the south, and he didn't dare to go to the county government that was right under the eyes of the Dulong army, but went to the northernmost Nanpi.

Of course, there are many reasons for not moving, but one important reason is that since he set foot on the land of Hebei, there has never been a single rain or snowfall in the entire Hebei Chidi for thousands of miles. , Covering a really big problem overshadowed by severe cold and moderate to mild famine throughout the region.

In the feudal era, true qi was not applied to production, and the common people had been relentlessly sucked blood by the Wei court, and the folks had almost no savings, so this kind of natural disaster can almost reduce the dimensionality of any political strategy or military achievement.

In this case, if it expands wantonly, one of the most realistic problems is that next year, the Dragon Gang will not be able to support the corresponding production activities, and the whole of Hebei will further break through the bottom line due to the superposition of military operations and famine.

This is obviously unacceptable to Zhang Xing, who has to consider economic and people's livelihood issues in everything.

However, when it really snowed, life-saving snow appeared, and new and imminent troubles also came.

Zhang Dalong sat with his head for a while, when suddenly someone came out from the door, but he didn't leave, instead came to the side of the snow and bowed his hands.

Without saying a word, Zhang Xing patted the other side of the stool. The other party understood and sat down, but he was a little cautious, but it was Zhang Jinshu, the leader who just came from Henan today.

"Leader, I came here this time, apart from an obvious issue of deserters, I mainly wanted to report to you some words and trends in the Eastern Region." Zhang Jinshu lowered his voice and spoke sincerely, without any mystery. "One is that due to the continuous transfer of supplies, there are gradually complaints in the eastern border, mainly from the people, but they have already spread to local officials and leaders; the other is that you have made a big army before. The First World War in Pingyuan was really shocking, and no one mentioned it much, but now that the limelight has passed, the discussion has started, and it is only said that you will not leave a single bit to the leaders, and you will eat everything... This is obviously from Jiyin. It came out."

"I see." Zhang Xing didn't change his face, just nodded slightly. "Thank you for your hard work... Let me see the situation. After Hebei is stabilized, it is not impossible to go back to Jiyin... It is very important for you. If there is a shortage of manpower, come to Hebei to find me."

Zhang Jinshu was overjoyed when he heard the words, and immediately stood up again, bowing to the end: "It's not hard work! You should do your best for the leader."

Zhang Xing nodded again, and Zhang Jinshu left knowingly.

"It is said that this person has always been hated in the gang, but it seems that he is indispensable..." Jia Yue watched the other party leave thoughtfully.

"It's not that this person is annoying at all, but that this position is naturally annoying... It's just that once a person stays in a position for a long time, they will gradually merge with the position." Zhang Xingyi said. "I'm actually the same, it's quite troublesome."

Jia Yue was thoughtful, and inexplicably fell silent again.

After a while, Xiao Zhou and Yan Qing also came out together, they looked at each other, Yan Qing took the initiative to take half a step back, Zhou Xingfan was the first to speak: "Third brother, there is obviously commotion in the camp after snowing, Yan Qing and I are right For a moment, I feel that there are some things that you have to make up your own minds to convince others.”

Yan Qing immediately nodded accordingly.

Zhang Xing thought for a while and nodded, but he was not in a hurry to go in. Instead, he asked Zhou Xingfan to go to the kitchen in person, and asked someone to deliver hot salty porridge with minced meat and ginger and spring onions to the barracks behind him. Seeing the porridge go in, The noise in the barracks gradually stopped, and then he got up with his three confidants and turned into the barracks behind him.

"Let's talk about it, but is there anything that can't be dealt with or is a big problem?"

After entering, Zhang Xing first took a bowl of porridge from the desk, and then stood among the crowd and drank a few sips. Then he took the porridge back to the desk that theoretically belonged to him, and then sat on the chair to ask questions.

"There is something that needs to be changed." The weary Wei Xuanding put down the porridge bowl and spoke directly. "The firewood problem I told Longtou when it just snowed yesterday and the day before yesterday was actually enough... For the past January, the soldiers in the village had been taking turns to log in the surrounding forests, and the logs and firewood were piled up everywhere around them. It's just that when it snowed suddenly, everyone All of a sudden, we need more firewood, and the transportation has become more difficult, and the counties, villages and towns that we don’t need to manage are also in short supply... So, the problem lies in distribution and transportation.”

Zhang Xing nodded: "Then if you want to distribute and deliver as much as possible, what do you need?"

"It's nothing more than manpower as much as possible." Wei Xuanding said seriously. "We discussed it and felt that it is not enough to just send soldiers to farm the fields. It is better to use food and money to recruit peasants in the east as before. Moreover, after the peasants from all over the country got up, as locals, they naturally knew that they had to go to various places. How much firewood do you need to send, where is the most suitable place to go... But in this case, money and silk are nothing, and the food is compact, especially the people in Hebei are not as good as we were in the east before, so they have to bring out the most scarce food. Hanging them, but the food is too expensive, and it is all military food squeezed from the east."

"Then take out the food and save some at most." Zhang Xing made a decision without hesitation. "Otherwise, you'll freeze to death before you starve to death... This is the most important and most important matter. Please work hard, Duke Wei. You and Old Zheng will take the lead in dealing with this matter."

"Understood." Wei Xuanding heaved a sigh of relief.

Zheng Ting, the leader in charge of the army's logistics here, also said yes.

"Who else has any difficulties?" Zhang Xing continued to urge.

Thanks to Wei Xuanding's start, the rest of the people stopped hesitating and moved forward one after another.

"Leader, this morning, a guy who left during the army found me and said he wanted to come back." Dou Lide drank the porridge quickly, and was the first to speak. "Japan can't bear it in winter, and they can't bear it even more when it snows."

"How many people? Where are they? Who is the leader?" Zhang Xing blurted out three questions.

"Originally, it took one or two thousand to go, but now there are only four or five hundred left. In the salt mountain of Bohai Sea, which is to the east of Wudi County, facing the sea, there is a tidal flat between the mountains and the sea. Originally, we could count on one or two, but now the sea is full of people. It's ice floes, and the tidal flats are even covered by snow." Dou Lide answered seriously. "The leader's name is Liu Heimei. He is a shabby, daring to fight hard. He has a good cultivation level. He has mastered the second vein of Ren and Du. He is a master of strange scriptures. Everyone in Hebei is optimistic about him, but he is a bit of a mess... In the early years, he followed the tall leader to climb the mountain. Zhou also came back, and it is said that he went to the subordinates of Niu Datou in Dongjun County, but he did not stay. He couldn't stand the more rules of the whole army before, so he took people away...before he left, he was a subordinate of Chief Hao."

"I have an impression of him." Zhang Xing was thoughtful. "It's just that since he is a subordinate of Chief Hao, why did he come to you again?"

"We are fellow countrymen." Dou Lide laughed. "We've known each other for a long time."

Zhang Xing came back to his senses, and felt that he was confused by the heat in the barracks.

If you enter Hebei, you must use Hebei people, otherwise you will not be able to do anything at all.

However, among the first batch of Hebei chiefs appointed, Gao Shitong almost killed everyone after experiencing the last show operation, and basically lost his momentum; Hao Yide and Fan Wang are typical bold and loyal leaders, and some people look down on them. Political ability and thoughts are all in their own camps; and the rest of Sun Xuanzhi, Zhuge Dewei, and Dou Lide are all participating in this camp to handle all general affairs, but Sun Xuanzhi is timid and only does his duty, Zhuge Dewei has a bad reputation , Willing and powerless, Dou Lide naturally rises and rises, and faintly becomes the spokesperson of Hebei people.

Again, the achievement of a person depends not only on ability and character, but also on luck. Standing up at a critical moment and becoming the leader of a certain group of people in a certain environment may change everything.

"It's not impossible to come back." After thinking for a while, Zhang Xing answered calmly. "They're all rebels, and it's too harsh to see death. But since we're leaving and coming back, we have to press down on another layer according to the new surrender... The tribes are scattered, and those who should take their families to the farms should go to the farms." Those who should enter the artisan camp should enter the artisan camp. Liu Heimei will come back to be a team leader, and there must be a leader who will act as a guarantor. And similar guarantees, each leader must also have an upper limit, you can discuss it again, and the whole system will come out."

Dou Lide responded solemnly.

"Zhang Longtou." Unexpectedly, the next one to speak was Shan Tonghai, the chief leader on duty who was only here to fill in the numbers. However, what he said had some content. "It's the twelfth lunar month, and it's snowing again. Many soldiers from the east want to ask if they can go home for the New Year..."

"It's impossible to go back." Zhang Xing thought for a while, then shook his head helplessly. "It's human nature for the sergeants in the east to have this idea, but as long as the sergeants from Hebei cannot support the overall situation, enough people must be left behind... draw lots, distribute them, slightly expand the scope of going back to visit relatives, and ensure that there are three One-third of the people in the Eastern Region can go home... Those who go home for the New Year this year will automatically avoid this annual leave next year."

"That's the only way to go." Shan Tonghai smiled, unexpectedly not fussing. "But the morale of the army can't help but fluctuate."

Zhang Xing was expressionless and did not respond. After all, as the other party said, this is probably the only way to go about this matter.

However, after the discussion of this matter was over, military judge Liu Zhouchen reacted somewhat, but hesitantly.

"How to say?" Zhang Xing looked at Liu Zhouchen and urged.

Liu Zhouchen, who was in charge of military law, immediately handed over his hands and reported: "Leader, just as Shan Datou said, the morale of the army is indeed a little fluctuating, but not only the sergeants in the east, the sergeants in the east are just homesick, but the sergeants in Hebei, who were already stable, but because of the heavy snow , each worried about his family members in various places in Hebei, and quite a few of them became deserters..."

"It's interesting." Zhang Xing couldn't help but sigh with emotion. "Those who fled outside want to come back, and those inside the camp want to leave."

Dou Lide also sighed, and then sincerely cupped his hands: "Leader, it's like this. The current situation must be the most stable in our camp, and the peripheral families, as long as they leave the two counties of Bohai and Pingyuan, there is basically no hope. Run away It may not be in time, and there may not be a solution when we reach the place... However, people's hearts are fleshy, and not everyone can think clearly about the pros and cons."

"I know." Zhang Xing said seriously. "But you don't need to intercede in this matter. It's not the same thing to come in and go out... The military law is hard to tolerate, just let the military judge do it freely."

"Here." Liu Zhouchen who got the words immediately responded.

"Yes." Dou Lide hesitated for a while, but still closed his mouth.

It can only be said that at any rate, it has established the character design of Hebei Renyi, a good brother.

Next, everyone had their own words, or they talked about military affairs, or logistics, or the difficulties that the surrounding counties and towns had been removed, but they all had one meaning, that is, the heavy snow catalyzed the camp internal contradictions.

It is snowing, although it has not yet become a reality, but everyone will think that traffic will become more difficult in the future, and the severe cold will continue for a period of time... This will psychologically stimulate people's hearts and make people fluctuate.

And the human heart is the foundation of everything, so the huge camp that was previously guaranteed stable by the power of victory, sports games, military law, and logistics, naturally reappeared at this time.

People in Hebei have the thoughts of people in Hebei, and people in Dongjing have the thoughts of people in Dongjing. Sergeants are sergeants, leaders are leaders, and folks are folks. You think about progress, he thinks about wives and children, and everyone thinks about food and fuel. That is, the bowl of porridge in my hand.

Meat porridge is the most fragrant.

However, fortunately, Zhang Xing, the ugly daughter-in-law in Hebei, still has a record, so she won't have to cook only a few bowls of meat porridge.

"Is there anything else?" Zhang Dalong waited for a moment, seeing that no one made a sound, he asked, and seeing that no one responded, he looked at one of them. "Xiong Tianwang."

Xiong Bonan understood, and bowed his hands solemnly: "Is the dragon head ready to make a move?"

In the huge barracks, everyone looked at each other in blank amazement.

But even some careful people just suddenly thought that Xiong Bonan was indeed here all the time during the whole army, using his fame and strength to help suppress everywhere, which played a huge role, but then disappeared, but I don't know where I went, it seems that I just turned back three or five days ago.

"You can't do it without your hands." Zhang Xing said with a smile. "We have to find money, we have to find food, we have to boost morale, and we have to let the soldiers survive this period... As long as we get through it, spring will be easy."

Xiong Bonan laughed, and continued to ask seriously: "Where to fight and how?"

"Hit them one by one, and hit them in turn. They can't escape." Zhang Xinghou lay back on his big bare chair. "Fight from near to far, but those with a bad reputation are given top priority..."

At this time, Wei Xuanding suddenly came to his senses: "Did King Xiong Tian go to investigate the powerful Wubao of the two counties a month ago?"

"Of course." Xiong Bonan laughed. "But it's not the two counties, it's the five surrounding counties! Otherwise, how can I use my one-month effort?"

Everyone was stunned, cheering up.

Only Dou Lide couldn't help worrying: "But Wubao is not easy to fight. We tried it before. There are 5000 people, and we can't win a Wubao at all..."

"Indeed." Zhuge Dewei was also a little afraid of difficulties.

"We now have 25 elites and [-] battalions!" Shan Tonghai sneered. "Counties and cities can be easily mopped up, what can't be taken down?"

"Both of you are right." Zhang Xing waved his hands to stop this unnecessary dispute. "Wubao is really difficult to fight, because firstly, Wubao is often rebuilt by a large number of manors managed by powerful people, and the supplies are abundant; secondly, the officers in Wubao are the sons of the clan, and the soldiers are to defend the village...Don't laugh, everyone, that is, Hebei Now there are no people in the field outside, otherwise, no matter how difficult it is in Wubao, it will be easier than outside. But we have no choice, not only now we have to take the food and goods in Wubao to enrich ourselves, the key is these Wubao The Lord is destined to be our great enemy in Hebei, and we must fight."

"Not bad!" Someone couldn't help but respond, but it turned out to be Zheng Ting, the senior manager in charge of logistics. "Since we have made the decision, how can we tolerate them enclosing the land? Besides, the Hebei rebels who were driven to Haili Mountain in the past two years, who can take the opportunity to build these forts and guard a place, which one is not an enemy? friend?"

Dou Lide followed immediately and made a change: "That's true, what Chief Zheng said is very... that the fight should be done."

As he spoke, he even bowed to Zheng Ting, who was outspoken...Zhuge Dewei wanted to follow suit, but was a little too late.

Many people around were actually surprised by Zheng Ting's performance, but there were also people who were clear about it. Chief Zheng's senior scribes who were there when the incident happened that day, nine out of ten of them stayed in a county. Isn't that what you came to Hebei for?
This is to bring myself into the identity of the empress of Bohai County in advance, and I can't help it-these Wubao have annoyed Dou Lide and other Hebei rebels before, and then annoyed Zhang Xingzheng Ting and other self-proclaimed Hebei masters in advance.

It is also people who sit at home and cause trouble for no reason.

But still the same sentence, since I went to Liangshan, how could I not hit Zhujiazhuang and Zengtou City?
"Well said." Zhang Xing nodded. "In short, Wubao is indeed difficult to fight, but since we have passed through Hebei, we must also pull it out... And we are not the scattered rebels before, whether he is Zhujiazhuang or Zengtou, how can we be afraid of him?"

"There are no such two..." King Xiong wanted to make a correction, but he didn't say it.

Because Zhang Dalong quickly mentioned another important topic.

"To tell you the truth, the reason why I want to save Wubao until after the army is reorganized is because there will be no snow and I don't know about drought locusts next year, so it's hard to set the tone for expansion. The other is because I want to take this opportunity to strictly enforce military discipline." Zhang Xing continued to speak sincerely. "We call ourselves a rebel army, so we should have excellent discipline, but human nature is greedy, and some people always think that we are playing tricks... Now that we have come to Hebei, we naturally have to reshape the new state."

"Dragon head means...?" Xiong Bonan suddenly became interested.

"On that day when the Southern Tang was crossing the south, the north was chaotic, and the Great Zhou had not yet established a country. It only hovered in Daijun and Yanmen. It was not until Emperor Taiwu rose up and quickly swept Hebei... The reason why he was able to quickly swallow Hebei and Jin with a single county is because There are countless reasons, but I admire him for one of his strengths, that is, the war is beneficial, and the whole army is not allowed to hide private interests, no matter how small or small, everything depends on the present.” Zhang Xing glanced at the many people in the barracks, Ask with a smile. "We are also here to fight Hebei, can we achieve what Emperor Taiwu did back then?"

Everyone was buzzing and discussing, but no one felt that something was wrong.

This is the power of tradition and allusion.

You have to make these people pay attention to the three major disciplines and eight items. They must think that you are joking, but you want them to return to the local history, pointing to the old customs of tribal democracy in a tribal alliance military group that has just completed centralization, saying that we Only by emulating this can things be done, and everyone will feel that this is not impossible.

Some of them even thought they could see some hidden meanings from these allusions—as expected, Zhang Dalong's picture was not small, and now he followed the right person.

"What I mean is very simple. It is to fight the Wubao, use the trophies and victories to stabilize the morale of the army, and to establish a new atmosphere for our 25th Battalion's new army by fighting the Wubao." Zhang Xingyang interrupted the noise. "Strict discipline is required, no hiding or looting is allowed, all spoils obtained must be handed over to the public, and then divided according to the rules... If the officer should get one more point, then write it down clearly, and then give the officer an extra share ; Say how much to confiscate the public treasury, how much to fill the camp treasury, and how much to share equally. Everyone discussed it clearly and wrote it down frankly; said that this family has not had a bad reputation, and they should leave something to ensure their production and life in the coming year. Also write it down; if you say something is hidden, it will be whipped, how many times you can whip a penny, and how many times you can whip a tael of gold. If the local government calls for grievances, it will be dismissed if it is unreasonable, and accepted if it is justified, and the next time the rules are changed, they will still be enforced!"

At this point, Zhang Xing pointed to one person: "Touhou Dou, in this first battle, you and Xiahou Ningyuan will fight, pick a close and weak one to fight, and set an example. It is best to let Liu Heimei Take a look, what is a teacher of mighty benevolence and righteousness?"

In any case, this is an honor and an opportunity to make meritorious deeds, and Dou Lide immediately responded excitedly.

"Boss Shan, you lead your headquarters to fight against the formation, just in case... But if there is no accident, don't participate in the battle, and don't need to participate in the division of spoils, just hold the formation." Zhang Xingfu pointed to another person.

This arrangement, Shan Tonghai is a bit uncomfortable at first, but it can't be postponed, especially Xiahou Ningyuan is his general, and now he has disbanded the camp, even if there is still a connection in the east, it still needs to be drawn seriously, so Also bowed his hands and said yes.

"King Xiongtian, you will have to walk hard again, but the leader Liu doesn't need to be dispatched. Let Zhou Xingfan lead my elite practitioners in the middle camp to go there and obey your orders. One is to help break the stronghold when necessary, and the other is to act as military discipline enforcement." Zhang Xing continued to give instructions.

Xiong Bonan and Zhou Xingfan also surrendered.

"We must tell all the leaders and soldiers that we are a rebel army!" Zhang Xing also stood up at this time and declared proudly. "We are cleaner than Bao Wei's army, more capable of fighting than Bao Wei's army, and we are not going to take one city or one place, but the whole of Hebei, the whole world! We want to build a new peaceful and prosperous world!

"Therefore, the imperial court of the Violent Wei Dynasty must fight in an upright manner, the scholars and civilians must rule in an upright manner, and the Wubao must also sweep up in an upright manner. Those who make meritorious deeds shall be rewarded, those who have done wrong shall be punished, the laws shall be followed, and those who cannot be restrained shall be restrained.

"For the overall situation in Hebei, we must take advantage of this heavy snow to spread it out cleanly and cleanly! As long as we do this, we will be the first class of benevolence and righteousness in troubled times, and we will be worthy of no shame!
Those who came from the Eastern Realm have already had callused ears for these slogans, and not everyone is Xu Dalang, who takes out a pen and paper to record them at any time, and even with the bonus meat porridge, there is no need for extra inner turmoil, just a few A few caring people noticed the hidden meaning of Zhang Dalongtou, and realized that some rumors before were just true—this Zhang Longtou really hated some conditions in the Eastern Territory, and wanted to make his own situation in Hebei and establish a foundation.

After that, they did have some different reactions, but they didn't follow the coping style of most people.

However, at the same time, those Hebei leaders and a group of Hebei clerks spent two years climbing ice, sleeping in snow, eating river mussels and picking mulberries, where did they feed such luxurious meat porridge?
As soon as he heard it, he seemed to have heard something about Huang Zhong Dalu, almost stayed on the spot, and wished that he could immediately follow this big leader to make a career and achieve a better life in the future.

PS: Good night everyone.

(End of this chapter)