On the twelfth day of the first month, thousands of miles of ice and snow drifted in western Liaoning, Zhang Ximiao lifted the curtain, squinted at the vast snow outside the car, and asked the handlebar in front: "Where is this?" ”

"In front of Ningjin Fort, more than 140 miles, you will reach Songshan City......" handlebar type replied.

"Can you get to Matsuyama Castle before nightfall tomorrow?" Zhang Ximeng asked.

"It's ...... weather," the handlebar style looked embarrassed.

Zhang Ximao poked his head out of the carriage and looked back, more than 500 horsemen were leading the horses, which was very hard. In a carriage in the back, sat Yang Wenchang, the bureau chief of the Inner Service Province, who was Hao Zongcheng's close confidant in the Inner Service Province.

Zhang Ximian was transferred from the Hanlin Academy to the military department as a foreign officer a few years ago, and he went to Liaoxi to once again bring an edict urging Li Zhuo to express his condolences to Liaoyang's soldiers and labor troops, and this is already the twelfth edict since Li Zhuo left Linyu Pass.

Yang Wenchang was half asleep and half awake, felt that the carriage had stopped, and lifted the curtain to see Zhang Ximao poking his head out to look here. After sitting in the car for a long time, I also felt that my hands and feet were stiff, so I jumped out of the carriage and said to Zhang Ximeng: "Master Zhang, let's come down and move your legs and feet, it's not comfortable to ride in the car all day......"

"Does Lord Yang think Li Shuai will send troops this time?" Zhang Ximiao got out of the car, stretched his hands, and asked quietly.

"The edict brought by Lord Zhang made him the Duke of Yan Guo, and the son attacked the township, rewarding 40,000 taels of silver, 800 silver medals, and 500,000 taels of salary," Yang Wenchang raised his eyebrows and asked, "What else does he Li Zhuo want, he can't be greedy to have a chair for him in Juyan Palace!" ”

Yang Wenchang's words were extremely sinister, Zhang Ximiao only didn't understand it, and said: "I'm also worried about asking, if Li Zhuo is not moved, what should I do?" He is a border handsome, the so-called general ...... outside" To be honest, he didn't know what was written in the secret decree that Yang Wenchang carried.

"It's his turn!" Yang Wenchang smiled disdainfully, "General Jizhen, how many of them were not promoted by Lord Hao?" If you really want to tear your face, see how Lord Hao cleans him up? ”

Zhang Ximiao smiled, didn't say anything more, called the cavalry captain to him, and said: "I want the brothers to work hard for another day, rush to Songshan before dark tomorrow, and each person will be rewarded with ten taels of silver to drink!" ”

Hearing that there was money to take, the more than 500 tired cavalrymen suddenly lifted their spirits.

**************

On the twelfth day of the first month, the land of Hehuai was also snowing heavily.

The ice road is slippery, but the post road from Siyang to Suyu is still quite smooth, which was repaired a year earlier and was not scrapped. Zhang Gou and Li Wei escorted more than 1,400 carts of mules and horses, braved the wind and snow, carried tens of thousands of stones, rice, grain and other supplies, and rushed to Chenjiagou, 30 miles north of the Siyang Walled City, and handed them over to the Red Jacket Army, which had been waiting here for reception.

The leader of the Red Jacket Army waiting in Chenjiagou was Li Liang, a close confidant of Ma Lantou, who led 2,000 men and horses to Chenjiagou to pick up the grain. He was familiar with Zhang Gou and stood there greeting. Li Liang's subordinate Li Yu'er couldn't hold back his temperament, pulled out a boning knife from his waist, and made a hole in the grain bag, and the crystal japonica rice flowed out like a waterline.

Seeing the rice flowing out of the mouth, falling into the car, and falling into the snow, Li Liang bent down to pick up the white rice that fell into the snow, for fear that a grain of rice would be leaked - this is really white rice, holding it in his hand, it seems that he can smell the tempting aroma of rice, he stretched out his tongue and licked it, the more he chewed the raw rice in his mouth, the more fragrant it became, and he couldn't control the tears flowing out.

Including Li Liang, the vast majority of the generals of the Red Jacket Army did not believe that Huaidong would be so kind and would give them food for nothing. Even if Li Liang brought people to pick up the grain this time, the 2,000 men and horses he led were all the most elite soldiers under Ma Lantou's command, and they ate with their stomachs open for two days before they came, just to guard against what conspiracy Huaidong would do.

At this time, watching Huaidong's transporter withdraw from Chenjiagou and park thousands of carts, tens of thousands of bags of rice grain and salt and other materials on the open plain on the east side of Chenjiagou, Li Liang's conscience fluctuated: No matter what Huaidong's thoughts are, these are life-saving foods!

At that time, Huaidong showed mercy to their subordinates and did not kill them all, which is something that many people know well; At this moment, most of the hostility left in Li Liang's heart was resolved...... No matter how many good things are said, no matter how many benefits there are, they can't really give life-saving food!

"Rice bags, do you want to take them back in Huaidong?" Li Liang swallowed the chewed raw rice in his mouth as a delicacy, and opened his mouth to ask Zhang Gou The first sentence was this, "Coming from Huaiyang, in addition to starving to death along the way, there are countless people who have froze to death ......."

The rice bags are woven with twine, which can be taken apart to make clothes. Rice and grain come first, but in cold weather, no clothes to wear are also a big problem.

"If you do not take it back, it will be given to you; The 1,400 carts of mules and horses are also given to you," Zhang Gou said, "The japonica rice allocated to you this time is all good, and the next time it will be millet." The quantity will not be deducted, but you have to organize your own hands to cook rice...... "40,000 stone rice per month, the manpower to be used is very terrifying, Suyu is not short of manpower, there is no need to help them do everything properly, "Next time, I will send back seeds and farm tools, you go back and tell the red jacket girl and Ma Shuai, the conditions you promised must also be implemented as soon as possible - the safety of Lord Li and his attachés in Suining and Suyu is also necessary for you to send someone to protect ......"

After the handover, Zhang Gou led the team back to the Siyang Walled City, and Li Wei and his attachés stayed.

In addition to supervising the local order not to be disrupted, Li Wei and his entourage also had to supervise each batch of rice and grain to ensure that three-quarters of the amount was transported to the townships. To help the hungry, we will set up porridge fields on the basis of various cottages and forts to prevent all the rice and grain from being transported into the city for Liu Miaozhen and Ma Lantou to be stored.

The manpower of the township forts responsible for receiving and relocating affairs is basically based on the officials selected by Li Wei when he was in charge of Suining. The attachés who accompanied Li Wei to the north were basically from Suining, Suyu and Huaiyang counties, and they were familiar with the place. In this way, it was possible to ensure that while the Red Jacket Army was advancing eastward, the local forces would not only not be impacted, but would also be strengthened in matters such as helping the hungry. The resettlement of the hungry people on the basis of the forts in each township can also reduce the dependence of the hungry people on the Red Jacket Army.

Suining, Suyu, and Huaiyang, although there is little land and many people, water conservancy is in disrepair, and the fields are deserted, as long as they are cultivated and sown, even if the three counties can only produce more than 100,000 or 200,000 stone of rice and grain a year, it will greatly reduce the pressure on Huaidong to receive help.

**************

Above the Huaishui, the colder the day, the more innocent the water, the boat travels on the water, and goes to the Huaikou.

Song Jia sat in the cabin with Lin Tie, and also felt that it was uncomfortably cold, and his hands and feet were cold, so he just took a thin brocade quilt to cover his legs and feet, and sat on the soft couch to watch Lin Tie study the map there.

After successfully completing the first handover of rice and grain, the next thing will be simpler, and Lin Jian also returned to Chongzhou by boat to prepare for the upcoming big changes.

Chen Zhihu's deployment is mainly on the western front, and in the cold weather, he will not rashly launch an attack on Huaiyang, and the situation in Huaisi will not change much between two or three months.

Two or three months later, the weather warmed up, all things were born, in addition to the rice and grain received from Huaidong, in the rivers, ditches and mountains, there were more edible wild things, wild vegetables, fish and shrimp, etc., and hundreds of thousands of hungry people in the land of Huaisi could recover some vitality. As for the Red Jacket Army, there is enough rice and grain to supply, and it should be able to return to its peak in three or five months. Even if the Yanbei defense line completely collapsed this time, it would be three or five months before the forward sentry cavalry of the Eastern Capture could penetrate Huaisi.

The key is that it is still impossible to predict what choice the Liang family will make in the face of the influx of hundreds of thousands of captives......

The map is spread on the case, and the three towns of Datong, Xuanfu and Jibei constitute the Yanbei defense line.

The main force of the Jizhen army has advanced to the front end of western Liaoxi, after the destruction of the Jinzhong army, in the following two or three years, it is the area where the captives and cavalry focus on raiding and plundering, and the local forces are broken, and there is almost no decent resistance force. To the east of Taihang Mountain, although there are 80,000 or 90,000 soldiers and horses in the Beijing camp, the combat strength is really worrying. Although the Tianjin Navy has the strength to fight, but the number is too small, at most before the war to expand the number of soldiers to 10,000, holding Jinhai, Hejian, Cangzhou and other cities is only reluctant, no matter how poor, can retreat to Yangxin.

Further south is the Liang family: Liang Chengyi is in Hezhong Mansion, blocking the mouth of the captives from the south of Jin; Liang Xi was in Jinan and the plains, blocking the entrance from southern Hebei. The Qingzhou Army, including Yangxin, and the Dengzhou Navy Army, had limited strength, but they were all in the eastern corner.

As far as the current situation is concerned, it is mainly the choice of the Liang family that determines the next situation in the hinterland of the Central Plains.

"The Liang family is wishful thinking," Song Jia rested his elbow on the couch, his hand supported his charming face, looked at Lin Tie a few steps away, and said, "He thought that even if the Jibei Army was destroyed, it would be able to hurt the Donghu people with some vitality, including Datong and Xuanfu, and in the entire north, the imperial court would be left with him The Liang family could rely on - Liang Xi was playing in his heart to blackmail the Son of Heaven to order the princes; And apparently Yezil's calculations were much more clever. Unless half a month earlier, Li Zhuoneng withdrew the main force of Jizhen from Liaoxi, leaving more than 10,000 elites to guard Songshan City, and dragged it to this point, even if the commander is not changed, the situation in the north will be nine deaths! ”

"......" Lin Jian turned to look at Song Jia and motioned for her to continue.

"When I first got off Songshan City, even if it was dangerous, but when I hit Liaoyang, the Jizhen army was still sharp, and maybe I could still fight for one or two percent of hope. Therefore, at that time, the soldiers and horses of the Donghu people in Datong did not dare to make any changes, and there should actually be a fine cavalry scattered on the front line of Yanshan in order to prepare for the urgency of Liaoyang-" Song Jia reached over, took out the terrain, spread it on his knees, and compared it on the map with his slender jade fingers, "Now that it has dragged on for a month, the Donghu people should have mobilized more troops in Liaoyang, and the Jizhen army has also lost its spirit in Songshan, and the hope of fighting Liaoyang again is even slimmer." In other words, I am the king of captivity, and at this time, the elite of Datong's soldiers and horses should be drawn out, and I can get thirty or forty thousand elite cavalry. Borrowing the road from Jinzhong, passing through the Taihang Mountain and then entering Yannan - even if the imperial court still uses Li Zhuo to command troops in Liaoxi, how much better can the situation in the north be? ”

Lin Jian frowned and pondered, and Song Jia continued: "Once the elite soldiers and horses of the Donghu people enter Yannan exceed 30,000, it is more likely that the Liang family will wait and see. However, only a limited number of troops and horses such as Chen Zhihu's troops and Changhuai's army can be mobilized—the south will follow at this time......"

Lin Jian sighed slightly in his heart, knowing that Song Jia's analysis was right.

Among the soldiers and horses that the imperial court can control in the south, there are not many that can be called elite.

Dong Yuan is good at governing the army, but the resources he can control in the past two or three years are very limited, 50,000 soldiers and horses, less than 20,000 elites, and about one-third of them are in the hands of Meng Yishan and stationed in Weiyang to recuperate, which is the old department of the Ning Navy.

Chen Zhihu's headquarters of 10,000 soldiers and horses can be called elite, and it is also the most elite combat power that the imperial court can master at this time.

When he served as the governor of Jianghuai and the commander of the Huai army, the Changhuai army received a lot of resources and survived several hard battles with the exile army, and there were 30,000 soldiers at this time, all of whom had the strength to fight.

Although Chen Zhihu's division and the Changhuai Army were stranded between the Jianghuai and Huai for a long time and were far away from the southern front, when the southern front was tight, they would be able to quickly go south to support, seal any gap that the luxury family had worked so hard to open, and carry out a tug-of-war operation.

Whether it is Luo Xiancheng or Liu Miaozhen, they have no ability to drag Chen Zhihu's troops and Changhuai's army on the Jianghuai battlefield and cannot get out.

Luo Xiancheng led his troops south to muddy the water, which was only the first step needed by the luxury family. Once the captive cavalry in the direction of Datong was inserted into Yannan again, the imperial court ordered the soldiers and horses of the world to be the king, which was the time for the luxury family to launch a general offensive. At that time, could the southern front hold up?

Maybe when the north was in crisis, Yue Lengqiu gritted his teeth and didn't let the Changhuai army go north to King Qin, how about it? Of course, this is also a very risky decision for Yue Lengqiu, and it is impossible to judge at this time.