Chapter 330 24 miles
Chapter 330 Two Hundred and Forty Miles
Pei Chun, the prefect of Xingyang, changed into military uniform, trimmed his beard, and prepared to go out to meet Shao Xun.
Before leaving, she even planned to put on some powder, but was dissuaded by the servants.
"My lord, I heard that Lord Chen never puts on makeup and prefers strong and powerful warriors. Why don't you just give up on it?" the servant suggested.
"That's right." Pei Chun followed suit and stopped doing it immediately.
He left Hulaoguan Pass quietly without any ceremony, only two servants and an ox cart. After seeing a large group of people from afar, he got off the ox cart and waited by the roadside.
Teams of soldiers came over in neat formations.
They first entered Hulao Pass and controlled various key points, then sent people to pass on the message.
Not long after, another group of soldiers came and pushed the people on both sides of the road out, leaving only a few people.
After all this was completed, Shao Xun finally appeared on the post road in the distance.
"What a grand show." Pei Chun complained inwardly.
Zheng Zun stood behind him, half a step behind, looking ahead silently.
All the prominent families in Henan have to make a choice.
Stay or go south? What attitude will those who stay hold? Which side will they join?
It’s not easy to make a decision, but you have to make it. Otherwise, you will be unpopular both inside and outside, and everyone will try to mess with you.
Li Ju stood further back than Zheng Zun; his status was really too low.
A native of Pingyang, a refugee leader from outside the province, he has now changed his job to become a fortress commander. If he had not known the ways of the world and had not connected with Yuan Fu and Sima Yue, his life would have been much more difficult than it is now.
This time he also selected 300 elite troops and sent them to Hulao Pass to help defend the city. He has always been very concerned about maintaining the Jin Dynasty.
Chen Hou Shao Xun was the most loyal minister of the Jin Dynasty and had made countless contributions. Li Ju admired him very much and was determined to see him from afar.
There were also some small scholars and local tyrants around Li Ju.
The scholars were relatively reserved, but the wealthy didn't care about anything. They stood on tiptoe and stretched their necks to look.
In fact, there are really not many scholars and powerful people in Xingyang.
Like Chenliu and Puyang next door, Xingyang is located on the front line of the war, and everyone who comes will want to grab a piece of it.
It has only been less than ten years since the robbery began, but the place has become very desolate and the population has dropped sharply - and this is even with the addition of a large number of refugees from other places.
If we have to fight for another ten or twenty years, I can’t even imagine it.
By that time, there might only be a few large forts and manors left in the entire county, with large tracts of open space between the manors.
The vacant land may have been farmland that had been cultivated for a long time, but it was abandoned and then overgrown with weeds, becoming a paradise for the Hu people to graze. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were two Hu armies fighting for a city. One army was grazing outside the west gate, and the other was grazing outside the east gate. After the horses had eaten the grass and gained some strength, they would start fighting, and when the horses had no strength left, they would stop fighting.
The scholars and powerful people in Xingyang now hope that someone can take up the important task, protect them from wind and rain, and preserve this originally very prosperous place - the territory is mainly plains, with rivers crisscrossing, irrigation is convenient, there are canals for business and travel, and it is close to Luoyang. How can it not be rich?
Some, though, may be destined to be let down.
Shao Xun sent a number of people to Xingyang, Puyang, Chenliu and other counties yesterday to carefully draw maps and measure the distance from the ferry to the key cities - he did not quite trust the court's maps.
Many people do not understand the act of measuring mileage, but a few smart people have figured out that it is purely for military purposes.
I'm afraid Xingyang, Chenliu and Puyang will not be able to escape the fate of the front line.
"Lord Pei."
"Your Excellency."
After Shao Xun dismounted, he walked arm in arm with Pei Chun, and they were very cordial.
He is now really satisfied with Pei Chun. He supervises the battle with a sword in the middle of the night and spends all his family wealth to recruit strong men. Is this kind of decisiveness and courage something that ordinary people can have?
"Your Excellency has guarded Hulao Pass and cut off the enemy's east-west communication. Your contribution is invaluable." Shao Xun said with a smile, "When we return to Luoyang, I will report Mr. Pei's contribution to the emperor."
Pei Chun smiled awkwardly and said, "No, no. My humble contribution cannot compare to your noble cause of supporting the country."
"Your Excellency is too modest." Shao Xun said.
Pei Chun shook his head and said firmly: "Your Excellency has saved the grain transport. If it weren't for your Excellency, when Shi Le went south in May, I might have been captured by him."
Shao Xun laughed, but was also a little confused.
Considering the great famine in Luoyang in history, the grain transport was obviously cut off, and that happened this year.
Wasn’t Pei Chun the prefect of Xingyang in history?
While the two were talking, they had already entered the city gate.
There are almost no residential houses in the narrow streets. There are either military barracks, warehouses, stables, etc., and Silver Spear Army soldiers are standing guard there.
Pei Chun was a little shocked when he saw it.
The Marquis of Chen was indeed very ostentatious. Wherever he went, there was a guard every three steps and a sentry every five steps. The level of security was so strict that it even exceeded that of many governors, provincial governors, and princes. Some people laughed at him for being afraid of death, and it was not groundless.
"I have something to ask you, Lord." Shao Xun suddenly said as they walked.
"Please speak, my lord."
"How many households are there in Xingyang counties now?"
"Less than ten thousand households." Pei Chun said after thinking for a while.
In fact, this data is just speculation.
The household registration has not been checked for many years. And these years are precisely the period when wars are extremely frequent, so how can we have accurate figures?
The statement "less than ten thousand households" was actually just a number mentioned by many people when Pei Chun was chatting with the county's assistant officials after the locust plague in May this year.
This is of course inaccurate and is likely to be greatly underestimated - most of the assistant officials came from local areas and had their own positions.
"Is that really all?" Shao Xun asked.
"Maybe there are 20,000 households." Pei Chun said again.
Shao Xun was speechless. You simply doubled the number. Is that so imprecise?
"My Lord, there should be 20,000 households. I can't say if there are more than that." Pei Chun said, "If we count the refugees from Bingzhou, Yongzhou, and Jizhou who have gathered in Chengwu, there may be thousands more households, or even 10,000 households."
Shao Xun believed what he said.
The refugees are the biggest variable, because you don't know how many of them there are. Given the dysfunctional state of the government at the time, there is no way to conduct a thorough investigation. The refugee leaders and fortress leaders report a number, and what else can you do but believe it?
"If we move the people southward..." Shao Xun paused, then said, "Do you think there will be rebellion?"
Pei Chun was shocked and immediately advised: "Sir, if you force the people to leave, there will really be unrest."
"Who is causing the rebellion? The scholars or the powerful?"
"Both."
"It's the Imperial Dynasty that has spoiled them." Shao Xun sneered and said, "If the war lasts another ten or eight years, we'll see if they will move."
"Why does Your Excellency want to relocate the people?" Pei Chun asked, somewhat puzzled.
"From Dahe Ferry to Guancheng, it's only 40 to 50 miles." Shao Xun gestured, "90 miles south of Guancheng to Xinzheng, another 40 miles south of Xinzheng to Yingchuan Changsha, and another 60 miles to Xuchang. This is a thoroughfare, a total of about 240 miles, what do you think?"
Guancheng was Guan County in the Qin Dynasty. The county has long disappeared, but the place name remains.
Xinzheng was still a county during the Cao Wei period. It was abolished in the Ming Dynasty and incorporated into Yuanling County, but the city still exists.
There was a major north-south post road in the imperial court. When entering Xingyang, it passed through Guancheng and Xinzheng. On the contrary, the county seat Xingyang was not on the post road.
Guancheng was located at the intersection of two north-south and east-west post roads, making it a very important location. Therefore, in the Tang Dynasty, Guancheng was once again established as a county and became the seat of Zhengzhou (Xingyang County).
The distance from the ferry on the south bank of the Yellow River to the important town of Xuchang is only 240 miles. It is neither far nor near, and it can still be used well.
"My Lord, don't you care about Xingyang anymore?" Pei Chun asked in surprise.
"Haha, what nonsense are you talking about? I gave up Xingyang. If it is occupied by others, wouldn't it be troublesome?" Shao Xun laughed and said, "Don't think too much. Next, you find a chance to repair Guancheng and Xinzheng. Guancheng may need to be rebuilt. It doesn't need to be too big. It can garrison 5,000 soldiers and 1,000 horses. The warehouse city should be able to store military supplies for half a year. Xinzheng has an old city wall, but it is a bit dilapidated. The foundation is still there, so find a way to repair it. Build another warehouse city outside to store food and supplies."
"Yes." Pei Chun thought about it, but couldn't figure out Shao Xun's intention for a moment.
But he had a bad feeling and always felt that it was not a good thing for Xingyang.
It seems that I have to find a way to move to another position. This poor governor is too dangerous and difficult to be. It would be best to move to a richer county deep in the hinterland. I have to get back the money I lost this time.
After the two entered the city, Shao Xun did not rush to find a place to live, but instead patrolled the wall first.
The Huns had retreated, and some of the conscripted peasants had been disbanded and returned to their homes.
The county soldiers have not had time to leave yet, and will probably not withdraw until before the New Year.
The other two thousand county soldiers in Xingyang had been completely wiped out, leaving only a few hundred people.
After the Chinese New Year, they had to recruit again and then march to Hulao Pass, where they farmed near the pass and garrisoned the city - the conditions in Xingyang could not support professional soldiers at all, and they could only be half-time at best.
To some extent, Hulao Pass, Guancheng and Xinzheng are more important than the county town that had just been recovered.
As a last resort, Shao Xun could tolerate the fall of the county city, but these three strongholds had to be defended.
"Have a banquet tonight to entertain the elders of Xingyang." After descending from the city wall, Shao Xun ordered, "You bring the wine, and I'll bring the meat, horse meat."
"The elders of Xingyang are just looking to make the acquaintance of you, my Lord." Pei Chun said with a smile, "I will definitely arrange it."
Now it was back to the area he was good at, Pei Chun suddenly felt very comfortable and agreed without hesitation.
(End of this chapter)