(Let's do it today)

On the 27th, when the sun fell, Kou general Xu Zhong led more than ten dead soldiers out of Hecheng to storm the southwest base of the trench, the arrows came out like heavy rain, and he was shot and killed on the spot, and the white flag was raised in the plug, and Du Cheli led the remnants to surrender, and the battle of Hecheng, which lasted for more than a month, finally came to an end, and the northern front battle composed of the defense of Changshan Island, the two attacks on Daheng Island and the North Beach encounter came to an end temporarily.

In this campaign, the Jiangdong Left Army successively annihilated and captured 12,000 soldiers, which dealt a heavy blow to the ambition of the luxury family to expand northward by taking advantage of the East China Sea Kou forces, and only suffered more than 2,200 casualties.

Nearly 2,000 soldiers were released from the armor and imprisoned in the northwest corner of the camp fort, and the soldiers and the townsmen took over the Hecheng Fortress in the entrenchment, together with the people before the conscription and deployment, and even those exiled prisoners who were released and came to Chongzhou to serve their sentences couldn't help but chant the name of "Jinghai Metropolitan Prison Lin Binding", and secretly said in their hearts: Such a character is really a beautiful son of heaven.

"What kind of system is this, let everyone rest for a while," Lin Jian taught the generals around him with a straight face, blaming them for indulging the generals, "Lord Zhang is not afraid of the danger of swords, and he has been supervising the battle here for more than a month, and he is the first in terms of merit, what kind of system is it to call my name?" ”

Zhang Yan stroked his fake beard under his chin, squinted and smiled: "Lord Lin is too modest, Lord Lin personally commanded the troops to fight on the outside line, and every point is a hundred times stronger than this official......" Zhang Yan can be in charge of the two Huai salt affairs for more than ten years, Lin Bin's flattering trick is not in his eyes, but he has to admit that the "swineherd" who once gave the southeast scholar Qingliu contempt and disdain is as famous as the sky through the great military victory, and he will vaguely become a hero, and he can no longer be despised by others.

Lin Jian laughed, and walked with Zhang Yan and the generals to the place where Kou General Xu Zhong was killed by an arrow.

When Xu Zhong died, he was a brave general, unwilling to surrender to the Jiangdong Left Army, and led his troops to attack the fortress just to ask for death.

Xu Zhong's death, in Lin Bin's opinion, death is not a pity, and even feels that it is a troublesome matter, after all, in the eyes of the two thousand descendants, especially the old soldiers of Jin'an, Xu Zhong's death is dyed with a strong color of heroism and loyalty, so that he can't simply cut off the head, otherwise it will lay the root of the bane for the workers' camp.

Lin Jian frowned and instructed Cao Ziang: "Kou will die bravely, don't be despised, send someone to find a good coffin to bury him temporarily, and have the opportunity to ask someone to send him back to his hometown in the future!" But he felt sorry for a good coffin and twelve taels of silver.

Although Lin Jian implemented another set of merit calculation methods within the Jiangdong Left Army, he still asked the imperial court for merit, mainly the number of heads and prisoners.

Compared with the reward of twenty taels of silver for the head of the real captive, the head of the Donghai Kou is not very valuable, and the head of the thief is only worth twelve taels of silver.

Lin Jian secretly felt a pity, Zhang Yan didn't need to use his military exploits to cover up his incompetence like Hao Zongcheng, otherwise he could secretly sell some heads or prisoners of war to exchange some silver for him to save Chongzhou's urgency, thinking that the good thing of selling 200,000 taels of silver for a thousand heads last year would probably not be possible again in the future.

But seriously speaking, Zhang Yan can't be regarded as incompetent.

With the current erosive situation in the imperial court, the collusion between the salt lords and businessmen is so serious, and the salt profits of the two Huai can be maintained above the level of two million taels of silver per year, and the emperors of Delong and Chongguan are incomprehensible, so we can know Zhang Yan's ability to govern salt and be a minister.

Although he is a eunuch who has no body, he can also be called a rare capable minister in the current dynasty.

If Miao Shuo of Yudong Palace is the eyeliner of the Empress Dowager Liang in Jiangdong, then Zhang Yan is the emperor's minions in Jiangdong. One is in the south of Chongzhou, the other is in the north of Chongzhou, what small actions Lin Jian wants to do in Chongzhou, and there is no convenience for Emperor Tiangao.

There was a coffin in the camp, Cao Ziang sent someone to collect Xu Zhong's body away, Lin Jian accompanied Zhang Yan into the Hecheng Fortress that had been searched, Song Xiaobo, as the capital supervisor of Hecheng, naturally could not be absent - his fat body of two or three hundred catties had lost a lot of weight after more than a month of tossing, although he was much fatter than ordinary people, and he no longer had to be carried by people when he walked, thinking that Zhang Yan had not given him a good life for more than a month.

"The defense of Hecheng will depend on Lord Lin in the future......" Zhang Yan climbed on the wall of Hecheng Fortress, looked at the outer moat wall, the small military fortress was surrounded for more than a month, and it has become a pattern of a big city, what does Lin Jian think, how can he not know?

Not to mention that there was a secret agreement earlier, in the current situation, half of the eastern front of Jiangdong County must be supported by the Jiangdong Left Army, and Lin Jian insisted on occupying Hecheng, and Zhang Yan had no way to stop it.

"It is the duty of the lower officials to guard the frontier and the sea," Lin Jian said, pretending to mention Miao Shuo unintentionally, and said, "When the lower officials were in Shengsi, the inner servant Miao also encouraged the lower officials, and Xu Zuo asked Wanshou Palace to donate 6,000 taels of silver to the military funds of the Jiangdong Left Army. The lower officials don't know the rules in the palace, is it better to refuse? ”

Hearing Lin Lian's words, Zhang Yan really frowned, but in a blink of an instant, he returned to normal, and said with a smile: "Miao Shuo has this intention, how can Lord Lin push it back?" Besides, Yudong also has to rely on the Jiangdong Left Army to defend Shengsi, and it is appropriate to allocate some hair......"

"Since Lord Zhang said so, I won't refuse on Lord Miao's side." Lin Jian said.

Zhang Yan saw that Lin Jian didn't seem to be pretending to be confused, but he had some doubts in his heart, so he said: "The Jiangdong Left Army has made meritorious contributions in defending the land in this battle, destroying and capturing tens of thousands of soldiers, and the county secretary will reward him, so the official will not say anything; In addition, Lord Lin has meritorious service in protecting salt, and this official will play the holy lord and ask for a reward for Lord Lin......"

"This, this, how can the subordinate afford it?" Lin Liancheng said with trepidation.

"This is how it should be," Zhang Yan said, "Emperor Taizu once said that there is no clear distinction between rewards and punishments, so how can a country be established?" The first emperor used his official to govern the salt matter, and once said that the salt and iron envoys were also the ears and eyes of the two Huai, and the saint also sent me with this language. Asking for credit for Lord Lin is really my duty to do my duty......" Speaking of this, Zhang Yan laughed slightly.

"Xia Guan is willing to be the minions of Lord Zhang." Lin Liantian shamelessly flattered, but he thought in his heart that the emperor intended to move the capital, and it was impossible to entrust all the preparations to Yue Lengqiu, and the Inner Servant Province might form a pattern of "South Zhang and North Hao".

Lin Yan's words seemed to be very useful to Zhang Yan, and he said: "Salt and silver are escorted into Beijing once every six months, and I see that it is the period of escort again, but the people of Jinan have changed and endangered Yannan, and the road is dangerous, and now I can only enter Beijing by sea, can this official entrust Lord Lin with the matter of transporting silver?" ”

"Serving the imperial court, how can you excuse yourself?" Lin Jian said.

"......" Zhang Yan smiled slightly, and said, "Transporting silver is not more troublesome than transporting grain, and the foot money will not be too much, but it will not let Lord Lin be busy in vain, what if the foot cost is 30,000 taels?" ”

"Serving the imperial court, where can I beg for money?" Lin Lian hypocritically excused himself, thinking that Zhang Yan's shot was really much more generous than Miao Shuo's, and he didn't give in to him and took the initiative to poke out Miao Shuo's six thousand taels of silver.

"The emperor can't send hungry soldiers, Lord Lin don't shirk," Zhang Yan said with a smile, "Although I am in charge of salt affairs for the imperial court, every penny of salt and silver I get is owned by the official family. ”

Zhang Yan hid a knife in his smile, not only giving benefits, but also not forgetting to warn his ministers, especially those who are not of the same heart as the emperor, that it is taboo to have personal friends with ministers who command the army.

Lin Liancheng said in fear: "Xiaguan is very confused, he can't figure out the proportions in this, and he needs to be reminded by Master Zhang." Master Miao, the lower officials must sternly refuse. ”

Zhang Yan didn't care whether Lin Lian's words were sincere or false, he didn't say anything about it anymore, his eyes looked at Song Xiaobo, the capital supervisor of Hecheng, and said: "The bandits in Hecheng have been appeased, and the forage needed to cook salt in Dafeng and Sheyang salt areas will depend on you......"

Kou Bing ate and drank Lazar for more than a month, and the smell in the plug was tangy, and it should not be easy to break out of the epidemic due to the cold, but it was impossible to live without treatment, so Zhang Yan took the pretext of going north to inspect the salt matter, and left Hecheng overnight.

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

Dealing with Zhang Yan, Lin Jian was exhausted, but he gained a lot.

"The emperor's precaution against the Empress Dowager Liang and the Liang family who have the merit of supporting the two emperors has not diminished, Chongzhou is sandwiched between the two Huaiyan districts and Yudong Palace, but there is also the opportunity to be the grass on the wall left and right," Song Jia, who was dressed as a scribe, was by Lin Lian's side all day today, she was quite tall, her face was smeared with some charcoal, she looked like a handsome strategist, and her slightly petite figure was like a small servant, but her voice was delicate and difficult to hide, and she didn't say anything for a day, said, "If in a short period of time, the civil unrest in the Central Plains cannot be suppressed, and the north and south are blocked, even if Yue Lengqiu is not affected by Xiao Taoyuan, he will also be cut in power." Cheng Yuqian's incompetent, seniority before he sat on the post of secretary of the Jiangning Military Department, if the emperor is a person who understands, let Gu Wuchen be the governor of Jiang Fang, not only to control the Jiangdong Left Army, but also to give it the military power of the Jiangning Water Battalion, is the way to check and balance. ”

Wang Chengfu also followed Lin Tie's tent to listen to the instructions, he knew Song Jia's identity as a woman, and he only regarded it as Lin Tie's beloved concubine, and when he heard her enter the camp tent, he talked about it like this, and his color changed slightly, I don't know if it would be good to listen to it, or find an excuse to leave first.

Lin Tie took the cold tea with his fingers, and wrote three words on the table for Song Jia to see, Song Jia was stunned for a moment, and then raised his eyebrows and thought about it.

Wang Chengfu wanted to know which three words Lin Jian had written on the table to make this woman shut up, but he knew that he was not yet ready to know the secret, so he stood respectfully under the hall and waited for orders.

"I heard that your wife and son have been brought to Chongzhou, I am busy with military affairs, and I have no time to care, don't blame me for being negligent." Lin Jian said to Wang Chengfu.

"Adults are kind and righteous, and they will never forget it." Wang Chengfu moved to the front of the hall and knelt down and said.

Lin Jian said: "It's time to use military merits to clear your guilt and let you officially come out to do things - I will directly ask the imperial court to set up three inspection divisions in Hecheng, Jiangmen, and Jiuhua to juxtapose the military village, so as to prevent war, and place patrol inspections and school captains, and the responsibility of Hecheng inspection is the heaviest." In addition to building the city dock, dredging the river section, accumulating grain in the tuntian, and relocating the households, he is also responsible for transporting forage for the Hecheng Division to fry the sea and boil salt in the salt area, I don't know if I can trust you? ”

"Chengfu is willing to smear the liver and brain of adults, and never give up." Wang Chengfu kowtowed and said.

"Get up and talk," Lin Jian said, "In addition to the Jiangmen garrison, I temporarily sent Zhao Bao to lead a sentry to garrison Hecheng. Zhao Bao is also familiar with you, he is still young, everything is controlled by you, if there is a dispute and indecision, send someone to Chongcheng to ask for instructions. It is not a day or two to set up an inspection department, you first help Song Xiaobo to clean up the Hecheng Fortress and continue the grass transportation north. Hecheng is not short of grass, but it is trapped in difficult luck. The salt area collects grass, one circumference and one penny, and the grassland households have no way to make a living, so the hardship is abnormal. I will give an extra subsidy of one piece of grass, so that I can have the financial resources to hire more vehicles, boats, mules and horses to transport grass, save manpower, and solve the difficulties of pasture households, so you can do this first. ”

Lin Jian and Zhang Yan were responsible for supervising the transportation of 7 million grass to the north every year by the Jiangdong Left Army. Seven million enclosed grass, an additional subsidy, less than 6,000 taels of silver, Lin Jian did not believe that the Hecheng grassland, which is almost the same area as Chongzhou, could not produce 6,000 taels of silver a year.

Lin Bin's actual idea is to induce Dafeng and Sheyang salt areas to gradually change from boiling salt to sun-dried salt, so that there is no need to supplement the fuel needed to cook salt from the outside world, and Hecheng forage can also be developed in large areas, and it is a great benefit to grow grain and cotton.

He abandoned Miao Shuo at this time and voted for Zhang Yan, because Zhang Yan was a key person who could influence this matter, and Miao Shuo was a useless person.