Royal road

"When Shangdang left, I haven't seen the envoy for a long time." Xue Ren sat at the guest table with a businessman's smile and said respectfully.

Seeing Xue Ren, Liang Feng was still a little surprised.At the beginning, the little girl in the Xue family who was full of tricks was really annoying, so Liang Feng ignored him for a while, and even arranged the business to the steward in the house.Unexpectedly, this person would join Pei Dun's family.But considering the identity of the Xue family, it is not surprising to be a lobbyist for the Pei family.

"I don't know what is Xue Lang doing here?" Liang Feng asked directly, not to be polite to such a businessman.

"It is for the envoy." Xue Ren turned positive, "I am afraid that the envoy also knows the current situation in Hedong. Alas, I am ashamed to say that although there are quite a few powerful families in the area of ​​​​Hedong, but privately The soldiers are not as long experienced as the Bingzhou family. Just like the Wei family in Anyi, with nearly [-] households in the city under their name, but less than [-] soldiers, they may not be able to defend their own city. The east of the river is now all thanks to Pei Pei. I don't know how long I can support it..."

Liang Feng did not answer.Nowadays, there is no place where there is no chaos in the world, and Bingzhou is too busy to take care of itself, how can it take care of others?

Xue Ren didn't care about Liang Feng's attitude, and continued: "You may think that Hedong is insignificant. But your business is closely related to Hedong. You might as well think about it, just last year, how many liters of salt are transported from Hedong to Gaodu , if Yanchi was captured by the Xiongnu, how could there be any trade in salt goods? The loss would cost tens of millions of dollars! Not to mention that if Liu Yuanhai occupied Yanchi, the Xiongnu would be able to occupy the salt right away and recruit troops, wouldn’t it be even more difficult to deal with? "

Liang Feng's face remained unchanged.He also knows this well.Just because they knew the importance of Yanchi, the Xiongnu could not give up attacking Hedong anyway.It's not impossible to save them, the court will send a large army to attack from both sides.But will Sima Yue let go of Sima Ying, who has already proclaimed himself emperor, for the sake of Yanchi?

Therefore, even if Sima Yue came to Pei Dun's move to send troops, he would only admit it straight away.If Bingzhou soldiers solve the east encirclement, wouldn't it be profitable?If they are defeated, Shangdang is considered safe and there is still room for buffering.As long as it doesn't threaten Luoyang, I'm afraid it's easy to say anything.

Seeing that Liang Feng kept his eyes closed and remained silent, Xue Ren coughed dryly: "Your Majesty, Bingzhou is not completely powerless now. General Linghu has already been ordered to recruit troops. If we can draw some more troops from Shangdang, this will be a great opportunity for us." Only by fighting can we be safe. Dudu Pei said that if this victory is won, Yanchi will definitely have a place for envoys."

Liang Feng raised his eyelids, and stared at the person in front of him: "The governor wants to recruit soldiers? Where are the soldiers?"

Frustrated by those sharp eyes, Xue Ren whispered: "Naturally, they are recruited from among the benefactors or refugees. Just like what Shijun did in Shangdang..."

Has he conscripted good people in Shangdang?Those are all soldiers guarding the soil, not to mention how much manpower and material resources I spent on training them.Now, with a single word from Pei Dun, is he going to drag these hard-won people to the battlefield? !

However, the anger in his chest did not show in the slightest.Liang Feng lowered his eyes again, and after a while, he said: "It's not impossible for the Shangdang to send troops to help. However, Governor Pei should be more cautious in his actions. The resettlement of refugees is my new policy, how can I change it overnight?"

This is tempting, want to negotiate terms with Pei Dun?Xue Ren couldn't help showing joy on his face: "Pei Dudu is also very anxious, and it is inevitable that he will make mistakes. As long as Lishi can be captured smoothly and Pingyang is approached, everything will be negotiable."

"I will consider this matter carefully." Liang Feng nodded slightly.

Xue Ren was really relieved this time.Take a look, no matter how nice the words are, if you learn that you can set foot in Yanchi, don't you think about it?This Liang family is not like the Pei family. If they want to be promoted to the top family, without money and influence, it will be difficult for them to take a single step.Instead of actually working hard for the imperial court, it is better to have a good relationship with the Pei family!Let alone Yanchi, wouldn't a word from Sima Yue's wife and brother be more useful than ten good words from others?

After completing the mission entrusted by the governor, Xue Ren made a few more tentative remarks, and then retreated contentedly.

Leaning on the table, Liang Feng was silent for a long time, and ordered Duan Qin to be summoned to discuss carefully.

■

Under the corridor, Linghu Sheng paced back and forth a little restlessly.After leaving the governor's mansion, he didn't dare to be negligent, and immediately sent a messenger to the governor's mansion, hoping to ask governor Liang for advice.The military order of the governor is simply terrible, unless he dies, he dares to send the temporarily recruited strong men to the front line.And all the troops are marching towards Lishi, what about Jinyang?Who will defend the city?Is there no one who can stop this new governor?

After waiting from noon until the sun set, the messenger finally returned to the mansion: "General, this is the governor's letter!"

Linghu Sheng snatched the letter and read it.Just the first two sentences made him grit his teeth in hatred.

It turned out that Dudu Pei was in a hurry to send troops for the sake of Hedong!Why didn't he think of it before?That's right, if it weren't for the tension in the Hedong war, why bother to send troops to Lishi in such a hurry!But after knowing this, Linghu Sheng felt even more desperate. If it was only for the sake of merit, it would be fine, but for his own family, who would run away?This battle must be fought!

After reading on, a little hope slowly rose in that ashen-like heart.Liang Shijun is really still on the side of Jinyang and Bingzhou.Alas, if such a sensible person can control the state soldiers, how can their life be so difficult?

Looking at the words at the end of the letter, Linghu Sheng really felt that he was getting old, if he was younger, why would he be so hesitant?Sighing deeply, he ordered: "Starting tomorrow, recruit soldiers outside the city!"

In the early morning of the next day, the refugee camp outside the city became chaotic.Today in Kaesong, the people who came were not ordinary officials, but rows of soldiers with swords and guns.How is this going? !Has the prince no longer accommodated these refugees?

"The Governor's Mansion has an order to enlist men above the age of 50 to serve in the army to assist the army in attacking Lishi!"

Hearing the order of the herald, the refugees below shouted!Why are we going to war?Didn't Jinyang just settle down?They fled to Jinyang City precisely to avoid military disasters. Didn't they hit the tip of the gun instead?What is the Dudu Mansion?What about their disciples?What about Governor Liang? !

Seeing that the entire refugee camp was about to explode, the herald was so anxious that he was sweating profusely: "Silence, silence! This trip is only for military service, not for military households! And each family only chooses one member, and the rest can wait. Enter the city!"

These words were roared out loudly, and the soldiers raised their knives and guns to threaten them again. The noise was gradually suppressed, but the despair in the eyes of the refugees did not ease much.Did you abandon your family and go to Decheng?Or do you drag your family with you again and go to other places to beg for food?People cannot have hope, but if there is any hope, the color of despair will become more and more intense, making it unbearable.

While the refugees and the conscription officers were confronting each other, another large cart was snatched from the city. Several small officials in soap uniforms who registered in front of the city gate every day stood on the cart and shouted: You have an order, if someone applies for the recruitment, his family will be exempted from paying [-]%!"

His voice was no higher than that of the previous heralds, but the power of the words "shijun" and "exemption" was much greater than before.It turns out that the envoy did not give up on them. It turns out that enlisting in the army to serve as a soldier is exempt from taxation...

A buzzing sound resounded in the crowd.

A man finally couldn't hold back anymore, squeezed out of the crowd, and came to the officials in soapy clothes: "Dare to ask the officials, is it really just labor? Will you let me wait to go into battle..."

The little official squeezed out a smile: "That should be the case. This is what my envoy asked Pei Dudu for. The servants are responsible for the rear, and escort food, grass and military equipment for the army."

With these words, the crowd loosened up two more.It is true that a large number of civilians are recruited every time troops are sent out, but these people often do not go into battle, they just do some coolies with the army.Danger is dangerous, but it's better than wandering again, with no fixed place.Moreover, all the officials have said that this is the reward that Shi Jun pleaded for them.If there is no envoy to take care of you, if you move to another place, will there be such preferential treatment?

Finally someone walked out of the team, ignoring the cries of his wife and children, and walked towards the officials and soldiers.[-]% tax, enough to support another child!

Seeing the men slowly gathering together, the herald and the clerk breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.As long as someone applies for it, it will be easy to handle.Thanks to Liang Shijun's thorough consideration, otherwise there would be chaos outside Jinyang City!

"This Liang Zixi does have some talent for comforting the people." In the governor's mansion, Pei Dun's complexion also improved a lot.

After the unhappy parting that day, he sent Xue Ren to the Liang Mansion, and decided to share some of the profits from the saltworks.It seems that the guy who can sell white porcelain at a sky-high price still has some greed in his heart.It didn't take long for the man to give in.However, there is also a condition that recruiting good people into the army can only be used as a service force, not a regular soldier.If he is willing to give in, the governor's office will be responsible for appeasing the people.

In fact, Pei Dun didn't know that it was very dangerous for a rookie to join the battle.It is really better to use these people to charge the battle than to escort the food and grass behind to relieve the pressure on the army.In this way, the military strength will still increase slightly, and the public grievances will be much smaller.Anyway, the lack of food and grass for the tax exemption must be made up by the governor's mansion, and it doesn't cost him much.

In this way, together with the people Linghu Sheng recruited from military households, the total force should be [-].It can also be considered a fighting force.

"When will Shangdang's troops arrive?" Pei Dun asked again.

"Liang Shijun said that it will take some time to prepare troops and horses. Moreover, it will take time and effort to march from Jinyang, and it will be easily guarded by the enemy. It is better to use Shangdang soldiers and horses as flanks and enter from Guyuan. Xihe Kingdom, join our army before the battle." Liu Changshi hurriedly said beside him.

"It's also a way. Well, in a few days, the military supplies allocated by the court should be delivered, and this battle should be able to survive." Pei Dun was not idle, and asked the court for help early on.He can't ask for soldiers, but food and armaments shouldn't be a big problem.Even if his brother-in-law knew what he was thinking, he wouldn't make it difficult.After all, Hedong County is the hinterland of Sizhou, and Luoyang is just across the Yellow River. Could it be that Sima Yue can still watch Hedong fall?

This battle is not only about the fate of his Pei family.

"Pass down the order, all armies are ready to go out! Let Liang Zixi and his soldiers guard Jinyang City."

A few days later, the reorganization of the three thousand civilian husbands was completed and a civilian husband camp was established.However, no one noticed that among the [-] soldiers Liang Feng brought, more than [-] soldiers were missing.