Bao Zheng stopped the horse and watched the countless people in front of him busy. There are those who carry earth, there are those who ram earth, and a city has begun to see its outline.

Du Zhongxiao got the news, and brought Yang Wenguang, Zhao Zi and Thirteen Lang to greet him, and bowed and said, "Long Tu has worked hard from afar. ”

Bao Zheng returned the salute, pointed to the front and said: "In just a few days, I will build such a big city, and the strategy is really fast." ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "After repeated battles and the capture of tens of thousands of prisoners of war, some people are naturally easy to do." As long as the grain and grass can be sufficiened, it will not be difficult to build a few more big cities. Hue is the center of this place, and the city is of course larger. ”

The two walked forward side by side, and Bao Zheng said: "I got the news of your great victory, and I heard that I am in urgent need of grain and grass, so I personally brought someone to send it." This time it was from the Heqing army, and the Henan land was walked, although the road was mostly sandy, but there were several water springs available, and it was not difficult to pass. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "This area was originally the place of Shuofang County in the Han Dynasty, and it was densely populated at that time. Thousands of years of change, the vicissitudes of life, even if the water source is not as abundant as before, it will not change much. The Heqing army can come in a straight line here, and there is no need to detour along the Yellow River. ”

Bao Zheng said: "Having said that, if there is no Zhang and his troops to occupy the land, where would he dare to go this way." ”

did not hide Pang to attack the Jinsu army, and when he heard that the Song army was approaching the right side of the military city, he hurriedly led his troops back to help. By the time he returned to Xingqing Mansion, the war had already ended. The party did not dare to attack the Song army again, so they could only strengthen the defense of the right wing, build the Great Wall there, and block the Helan Valley Road. It's just that in the face of the Song army, they won't give the name of Keyimen, and call it the mountain and river pass, which means that the mountains and rivers are sandwiched. Without hiding Pang to retreat, Zhang led his troops to attack and captured Dijinze.

Dijinze is located in the desert, the water and grass are abundant, and it is the deep belly of the Hengshan area of the party. At the beginning of the party, Zhao Jiqian was defeated by the Song army, so he hid in Jinze, and finally booby-trapped Cao Guangshi, thus turning over. The Song army occupied Jinze, and together with Linzhou, pressed Hengshan from the north.

After this battle, the Song army occupied most of the Hetao, and the party was left with only the irrigated plains centered on Xingqing and Lingzhou. The soldiers in the west are facing Helan Mountain, and the sword is pointing at Xingqing Mansion. The eastern part occupied Jinze, and the Hengshan area had no hinterland, and was attacked by the Song army on both sides. The remaining territory of the party has been compressed into a slender strip in the Hengshan, Tiandu Mountain, and Hexi regions, and has lost its strategic depth.

This situation can be seen at a glance with a map. No matter where the Song army set out, it could cut the party's waist into several sections, so as to encircle and annihilate it. However, the Privy Council did not have a decent map, and Du Zhongxiao did not provide it, and they still did not understand the overall situation.

When he arrived at the bank of the Yellow River, Bao Zheng saw that the newly built city was built on both sides of the river, divided into two cities, east and west, and the Yellow River passed through it, and said to Du Zhongxiao: "Jingluo, why are there two cities built here?" The land here is vast and sparsely populated, as long as you build a city on the west bank of the river, everything is enough. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "This city on the east bank of the river is actually the ancient city of Linrong in the Han Dynasty, and Shuofang County once moved here. The city was built on the east bank because it was necessary to build a road south of the Yellow River, from here until the Heqing army, leading to Dongshengzhou, which was the road when Longtu came. Needless to say, Xicheng is a key place where Lou Bobei in the west and Helan Mountain in the south are the key places. In addition, many party prisoners of war have been captured recently, and they are used to build roads and cities, and they are idle. ”

Hearing Du Zhongxiao say that he was idle and idle, Bao Zheng couldn't help laughing. The soldiers of the Song army are all repairing the city, how can they let the party prisoners of war idle. There are tens of thousands of people here, and if you don't build a few more cities, you won't be idle.

When he arrived at Du Zhongxiao's tent and sat down, Bao Zheng said: "This time, a thousand cavalry came with me and escorted them on the road." However, the population of Hequ Road was not large, and the manpower to transport grain was insufficient for a while, so many households were requisitioned. At that time, they were told that after arriving in Hue, there were cheap livestock here, and they could buy them back at a low price. Don't let them down, otherwise it will be difficult to recruit people in the future. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Long Tu rest assured, several big victories have not only captured prisoners of war, but also captured countless livestock. Even if we want to farm and graze in the future, we won't need so much, we can sell it to them. If I don't sell it to them, will my army drive the sheep all the way back? ”

Zhao Zi led his troops to lead Lou Bobei and captured the most livestock. Many tribes of the White Horse Prison Division were there, waiting for Bao Zhong to win the battle, and after dividing the spoils, they went to graze in the places where the water and grass were abundant. Shisanlang also drove out many tribes from the Wolf Mountain, and surrounded Zhao Zi, which was another major source of war spoils. Their Ding Zhuang became prisoners of the Song army, and the Song army did not want these livestock, and they would starve to death in the back.

asked Du Zhongxiao about the situation on the front line, Bao Zheng said: "Tens of thousands of soldiers, plus tens of thousands of prisoners of war, if it weren't for the railway to Dongshengzhou, these people would not have food." The front line has fought a big battle, and I don't know how much grain and grass have been captured? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "In addition to a small amount of corn, most of them are barley, green hemp seeds, etc., which can only be used as horse feed, how can it be used as military food?" Before the food and grass were delivered, only prisoners of war ate those things. Ironically, the POWs ate barley openly, and many thanked Dade for saying that they had never had a full meal before. Tens of thousands of prisoners of war survived and could eat more than the guards' guns. ”

Bao Zheng said: "I see, no wonder Jingluo is so anxious to urge grain and grass." However, this is not a long-term solution, and it is still necessary to send people to the vicinity of Dongsheng Prefecture as soon as possible. There is a railway to transport grain, so that there is no shortage of food and clothing. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "I also have this intention. When the city was built here, the prisoners were sent away in batches. Let them build the railway from Dongsheng to Fengzhou, and when the railway is opened, Fengzhou can really settle down. Tens of thousands of soldiers on Hequ Road, without a railway, how can they be defended? ”

Bao Zheng said: "The meaning of the strategy is to use prisoners of war to build roads? In the past, when the imperial court was captured, it was either killed or surrendered. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "What did you do when you surrendered?" There is no need for such people in the meandering army at all. Let them build roads, and those who are really meritorious in them can be put back and distributed to local camps. Those who can't make meritorious contributions will be prisoners, and the Fengzhou Railway will be repaired, and the railway here can still be repaired. How many of these people haven't been stained with blood? used to rob the people of the Great Song Dynasty, and the auxiliary soldiers were much more ferocious than the regular soldiers. Ordinary prisoners are locked up for several years, let alone them? A few years later, the saint descended to the deyin, let's talk about it. ”

Bao Zheng nodded silently and didn't say anything more. In the past, when party officers and soldiers were captured, most of them were killed if they did not surrender, and some of them were incorporated into the Song army. Those who are willing to surrender, if they are the leaders, will also be given official positions and take their headquarters to serve the Song Dynasty, and the imperial court has no unified policy. Du Zhongxiao really treated the prisoners of war as prisoners and worked like a prison camp. The current Song army has this strength, and Du Zhongxiao's military exploits also have this qualification.

After chatting about business, Du Zhongxiao's handsome tent set up a banquet to catch the wind for Bao Zheng.

When the wine and food came up, seeing that the steamed and boiled meat on the table were all kinds of meat, Bao Zheng said: "There are already vegetables for sale in Dongshengzhou, which are shipped from the Central Plains, and the price is several times the price of meat." This time, I came with some dishes that will not spoil for a while, and the taste has been changed in the army. ”

Thirteen Lang, who accompanied him, said: "In the Central Plains before, there was no meat in my mouth for a few days, and I felt that the bird had faded out. When I got here, there was no green in the dishes except for the grain, and it was even more uncomfortable than before when I didn't have meat to eat. In several big battles, the army did not know how many cattle and sheep were captured, and there was no grazing, so they could only eat every day. To tell you the truth, I'm on the verge of throwing up! Now there's a plate of parsley, and it's a delicious delicacy! ”

Bao Zheng said: "The general will return to Dongsheng Prefecture in a few days, and those have everything." ”

In fact, there are benefits for party members to eat those coarse grains, and their bodies can bear it. Song Jun is used to eating finely, especially the middle and senior officers like Shisanlang, who are meat every day, and their nutrition is already unbalanced and cannot last long. Noodles are more expensive than meat, vegetables are more expensive than meat, they are all common things here, and those things are too rare for locals. Of course, for the people at the bottom, they can't afford to eat meat, they can only eat horse feed, and those are even rarer.