Chapter 1868: Ren Zijuan strangled him by the throat and forced him to fight

"Who dares to say that Xia Town can't be taken back?" Liu Dongyang stood on the top of Guyou City with a smile. "If we don't take it back, what will the more than 100,000 people under Niu Jizong and Sun Shaozu have to eat? Will they rob all the canal banks?"

Gutou City is the branch office of the Lianghuaidu Salt Transport Department. It guards the junction of Nanzhi and Shandong. To the north is the jurisdiction of the Changludu Salt Transport Department, and to the south is the Lianghuaidu Salt Transport Department. The jurisdiction of the Yamen.

Northern salt cannot be transported south, and southern salt cannot be transported north. This is a rule, and the Xia Town branch is the key to guarding it.

However, as the production capacity of the Changlu Salt Field gradually shrank, the production capacity of the Lianghuai Salt Field was still barely maintained. The profits from the South-North Salt Transmission became very considerable, and the important status of the Xiazhen Branch was highlighted.

The output of the Changlu Salt Field began to decline slowly since the 38th year of Yuanxi. This is why the Changlu Salt Transport Department gradually paid more attention to the Huimin Salt Field in Yongping Prefecture.

 Although the output of the Huimin Salt Field is far from comparable to that of the Changlu Salt Field, it is still a supplement and can make up for the shrinking production capacity of the Changlu Salt Field to some extent.

As the salt gap in the north is getting bigger, if the salt from the south is transported north, it must pass through two passes. One is the Xiazhen branch, where a salt tax is collected because it goes out of the country to the south of Zhili, and it also passes through Dushan Lake in the north. In Luqiao Town in the north, the Changludu Salt Transfer Department also has a branch there. Once salt enters Shandong, it also needs to collect a salt tax.

"Yes, how can Niu Jizong live without taking back Xia Town? How dare he not take it back?" Tu Wenxiu made a special trip to meet with his former leader. His residence is in Peixian County, which is not too far from here. "The commander-in-chief chose a good place and forced Niu Jizong to go south."

“Well, Chen Jixian has both ends. He is restless in Xuzhou now. As long as we don’t go south, he will become Amitabha. The commander-in-chief has seen through this person.”

Liu Dongyang rested his hands on the crenellations of the Gutou City wall.

The head of Gutou City is low, only about two feet high. It was originally stationed as a branch office, mainly collecting salt tax. At the same time, the Tax Department also chose to collect commercial tax here, so the city area is not large, except for the capital. In addition to the Salt Transportation Department and the Taxation Department, some large merchants have chosen to build warehouses and shops here. If it is a single-round defense, it is of little value.

However, Zhaoyang Lake and Dushan Lake have always been haunted by lake bandits. Whenever the surrounding places such as Jinxiang, Yutai, Tengxian, Zouxian and even Jining Prefecture encounter floods and droughts, a large number of people flock to the lakes and become slaves. Lake bandits, the lake bandits of Zhaoyang Lake and Dushan Lake echo the lake bandits of Nanwang Lake, Shushan Lake, and Machang Lake to the north, and have also become a major harm to Yanzhou Prefecture.

However, every time a disaster passes, especially if there are several good years in a row, the power of the lake bandits in Nanwang Lake and Shushan Lake in the north, as well as in Zhaoyang Lake and Dushan Lake, will inevitably be greatly weakened. After all, no one is willing to take the risk. If you risk losing your head and being wanted by the government for the rest of your life to become a lake bandit, who would want to be a lake bandit as long as you can survive?

Therefore, the government attaches equal importance to recruitment and extermination, so that these lake bandits sometimes die out, but they reappear again and again.

The severe drought in the Northland in the past two years has swelled the power of lake bandits in the northern and southern lake areas. Although the lake bandits do not dare to easily provoke the passing of the cavalry rhyming with the cavalry, but if it is an ordinary merchant ship, then you have to watch Fortunately, many merchant ships later had to travel with the attached canal ships. However, many ships could only stay in Zhangqiu Town in the north of Anshan Lake, Jining Prefecture in the middle, and Xia Town in the south, waiting for the canal ships. 's arrival

This has a great impact on the transportation of the entire canal. Many merchant ships that cannot wait for the canal either send additional escorts or take the risk of passing through in groups. But even so, they will still encounter lake bandits. attack.

In addition to Nanwang Lake, Shushan Lake, and Machang Lake in the south, Zhaoyang Lake and Dushan Lake in the north, and Anshan Lake further north but smaller in area, these three lakes are all haunted by lake bandits. , and the area with the greatest power of lake bandits is Nanwang Lake, Shushan Lake and Machang Lake at the junction of Shandong and Nanzhi.

"Then let Chen Jixian just let it go? Xuzhou only has such a large territory, and it relies entirely on the canal to maintain its livelihood. Now that Xia Town has fallen into our hands, and the canal is cut off, how will his tens of thousands of Huaiyang troops make a living? Tu Wenxiu looked arrogant, "The Huaiyang Army has behaved so cowardly, will Nanjing continue to provide him with money and food?"

"What if we don't provide it?" Liu Dongyang held the crenellations of the city wall with one hand and rubbed his chin with the other. "He still has tens of thousands of soldiers. If Nanjing doesn't care, will he go south?"

Tu Wenxiu was stunned for a moment, then realized what he was doing, with a smile on his face, "Dongyang, don't tell me, it's really possible. Anyway, he is a mother-in-law if he has breasts. The north can't beat us, but the south can't. If you don't pinch him, how can he be worthy of the tens of thousands of soldiers under his command? I'm afraid he himself won't be able to secure his position as the commander-in-chief of Huaiyang Town, right?"

"Forget it, we are too lazy to care about Chen Jixian. That is a matter for the commander-in-chief to care about. We just need to make sure that he does not have the guts to come north and join forces with Niu Jizong to attack us. Our army cannot They will pass through Jingshan, but I hope they will not pass through Jingshan." Liu Dongyang patted the mud on his hands, "Now what we have to consider is when Niu Jizong's army will go south, and from which direction."

Tu Wenxiu laughed and said, "Dong Yang, are you so sure that Niu Jizong will go south regardless of the cost?"

"Won't he go south and drink from the northwest wind? Although Shandong has a vast land and rich resources and produces grain, they can barely maintain themselves along the canal and get along with the local gentry and powerful people. This is also based on the fact that they have not paid much attention to these local gentry. The powerful people are willing to open their mouths, but once there is no money and food supply from the south, they will have no choice but to reach out to the local area. By then, I am afraid they will not be so comfortable. All kinds of hard and soft resistance will come out, and they will have to ask for help from time to time. Two sneak attacks, Niu Jizong would not have thought of this, and how to replenish the consumption of weapons? So he must be able to go south to open the canal."

"But it's not that easy to go south to recapture Xia Town, right?" Tu Wenxiu looked north, "Should we go to Teng County, or should we go to Jinxiang Yutai? It's not easy to go either way. We're going to Teng County. We can fight a blocking battle in Teng County. Our cavalry can take advantage of the flat terrain in Teng County. The Fushan area is a good place for ambush; if we go to Jinxiang Yutai, that's fine too. We in the county can rely on the advantage of the lakeside to set up positions to block the attack, and the advantages of the fire gun soldiers can be brought into play..."

"You have a beautiful idea. Niu Jizong is also a veteran on the battlefield. How can it be so easy to obey our baton?" Liu Dongyang also laughed, "But he has to come. I will go either way. Don’t be afraid, this hundred miles of lakeside is all in my hands, and I have the initiative.”

Tu Wenxiu’s eyes lit up, “Have you settled the lake bandit matter?”

"It's not that I did it, but that Long Jinwei and his group spent a lot of effort. In addition, the commander-in-chief obtained the Shang Fang Sword from the imperial court and agreed to recruit these lake bandits. Only by offering these conditions did he convince these lake bandits." Liu Dongyang said proudly. He bared his teeth and said, "But there are conditions. When the Xuanfu army goes south, they must fight hard, otherwise the recruitment conditions will be invalid."

"Haha, that's natural. How can there be such a good thing in the world? You don't do anything, just wait until you eat food and serve as a soldier and get rewards?" Tu Wenxiu snorted, "I think we fought a lot back then. Zhancai…”

“Okay, don’t mention the past anymore.” Liu Dongyang frowned.

Although several years had passed since the rebellion, and the imperial court no longer seemed to care about it, Liu Dongyang knew that many people in the imperial court were still worried about it. They had never thought about the reason for the mutiny and rebellion in the first place, and they had never thought about it. I don't want to know the deeper reasons behind it, I just want to crucify myself on the platform of shame.

If it weren't for Feng Tang's disregard of previous suspicions, they would never have had the chance to come to the Central Plains to prove themselves this time.

 Tu Wenxiu also realized this and kept silent knowingly.

"Wenxiu, this is our chance to prove ourselves. The mentality of these lake bandits is probably similar to ours back then. Niu Jizong's army is coming south to open up the canal. Xia Town is the key that cannot be bypassed. Coming from the east, first To capture Teng County, the road conditions are good, but the problem is that we control Peixian County to the east and cannot solve this threat. It is equally unstable for them to capture Xia Town; if we go to the west, Jinxiang and Yutai are in their hands. It can be used as their rear support to steadily move south. As long as Pei County is captured, Xia Town will be like a tree without roots and water without a source, so they cannot give up on the west."

Tu Wenxiu nodded slightly: "So they can only come from the west?"

"The west route is definitely indispensable, but maybe they are more courageous. It is safer to advance the east and west routes together. This way, it may be possible to eliminate our idea in one fell swoop?" Liu Dongyang smiled slightly.

While the two were discussing, a soldier below quickly ran up the stairs of the city wall.

“Sir, the people from Zhaoyang Lake are here.”

 “Oh? Who brought it??” Liu Dongyang perked up.

“They are from Long Jinwei, and there seem to be a few local gentry who came with us.” the soldier reported.

"Okay, please wait a moment." Liu Dongyang waved his hand, "Wenxiu, let's go and see each other. These lake bandits are not ordinary people. I am about to discuss with them how to take advantage of their mobility in the lake. Let’s see if we can find an opportunity to wait until Niu Jizong and others go south, and then give them a slap on their butts.”

 (End of this chapter)