Chapter 637 Crisis
Chapter 637 Crisis
Xiao Xia nodded and asked, "The head of the family said in a letter that he could help me get Xiangyang County. How can I do that?"
"Xiangyang County Governor Zhao You is the son-in-law of the Yuan family. He can recruit troops to join the Jin Wang Army to the Xiangyang Army."
"Zhao You is also a Guanlong noble, right?"
Yuan Min nodded, "He is the descendant of Zhao Gui, one of the Eight Pillars of the State, but he is a bastard of the family and has not been valued since childhood. It was the Yuan family who brought him up."
Xiao Xia frowned slightly, "Why wasn't he purged by the court when the pseudo-dynasty was established?"
Yuan Min smiled slightly and said, "The court did not purge the Guanlong nobles. They all resigned voluntarily, but basically it was the court officials who resigned, not the local officials."
"In other words, there are still many children of Guanlong nobles in the area?"
"Exactly!"
Although Yuan Xiaoju had good intentions, Xiao Xia could not accept his plan. How could he possibly hand over his army to Zhao You?
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "I appreciate your master's kindness. I will not consider Xiangyang for the time being. The most urgent task now is to take back the six counties of Jianghuai and connect them with Jingxiang."
Yuan Min was startled, and quickly said: "If Your Highness has any concerns, you can speak directly."
"No worries. Although it is my established policy to take over Xiangyang County, a full bank will inevitably overflow. Leaving a gap for the court may not be a bad thing."
Yuan Min immediately understood what Xiao Xia meant. He didn't want to attract the attention of the court too early.
Yuan Min smiled and said, "When I crossed the river, I saw many elephants at the Jingkou wharf. They were all huge. Your Highness is now a huge elephant. No matter how low-key Your Highness is, you can't escape the attention of the court. I personally think that it is better to be so powerful that others dare not pay attention to it than to keep a low profile and avoid it."
It’s okay to have good intentions, but if your kindness is too broad, it will make people disgusted.
Xiao Xia said calmly: "I appreciate Brother Yuan's kindness. Let's settle down first! We can talk slowly when we have a chance in the future."
As soon as Yuan Min was sent away, Lu Miao reported at the door, "Your Highness, Judge Zhang urgently wants to see you!"
"Let him in!"
After a moment, Zhang Liang hurried in, bowed and said, "Your Highness, I just received a message from Liang County via carrier pigeon. Chen Leng has led 50,000 troops to Yucheng County and is advancing rapidly towards Pengcheng County. In addition, Duke Meng Hai of Jiyin County is also stationed in Shanfu County with 20,000 troops. If a war breaks out, the battlefield will most likely be in Liu County."
Xiao Xia hurriedly walked to the sand table nearby and took a closer look. He used three red flags to plant on Pengcheng County, Yucheng County and Shanfu County, forming a triangle, and the center of this triangle happened to be Liu County.
And Liu County is where their coal fields are located.
Xiao Xia's face was extremely solemn. What he was worried about was not the coal fields, but the civilians working in the coal fields. The demand for young and strong men in war was unlimited. Wherever the army passed, all the young and strong men would be swept away.
The only way is to defend Liu County. The Jiangnan Army also has a thousand troops stationed in Liu County, but a thousand soldiers are far from enough and immediate support is required.
Xiao Xia said without hesitation: "Ask You Junda to see me immediately!"
Although You Junda's personal martial arts skills are average, he has a strong organization, is good at defending the city, and is very resilient. Key people are needed in key places, and the person Xiao Xia thought of was You Junda.
Soon, You Junda hurried over, bowed and said, "Your Highness!" Xiao Xia took out a gold medal and a command arrow and gave them to him, saying, "You immediately lead 5,000 cavalry to Liu County, protect the civilians in the coal fields, and defend Liu County from being destroyed by the war. You will have made a great contribution."
"I humbly obey orders!"
Xiao Xia reminded him again: "Take 20 iron fire bombs with you as a deterrent. In addition, there are food reserves in the county town. The situation is urgent, so you'd better set off immediately!"
An hour later, You Junda led 5,000 cavalry and drove rapidly towards Pengcheng County.
The shadow of war loomed over the area around Pengcheng County. First, Li Zitong's army occupied Pengcheng County. Although Li Zitong strictly ordered not to harass the Jiangnan coalfields, the coalfields were still affected.
Coal mining is a system, from the organization of laborers, to loading and unloading at the dock, fleet transportation, and various financial and material guarantees, etc. As long as there is a problem in any one link, it will affect the operation of the entire coalfield.
Although Li Zitong's army did not dare to harass the coalfield, it would still affect the coalfield in other aspects. The simplest one was the shipping fleet. Ships were also the hard currency in the Jianghuai region. Any ship passing through Sishui would be intercepted by Li Zitong's army, and the coal fleet was no exception. Although the coal fleet could be released in the end, it would be detained for at least ten days, which seriously affected the efficiency of coal transportation.
But the reduced transportation efficiency is only a minor problem. The real trouble is the arrival of war. The chief steward Zheng Rong has received a notice in advance from the General Administration's Office, asking him to move the business to Liu County.
In fact, Zheng Rong had already moved away. Before Li Zitong's army arrived, he had taken the initiative to transfer all 50,000 shi of grain and 200,000 dan of fodder to the Liu County warehouse. Otherwise, Li Zitong's army would definitely confiscate the grain and fodder after their arrival.
There were a thousand garrisons in the coalfield. At first, there were five hundred samurai, which gradually increased to a thousand samurai. Later, they found that the court did not care at all, so the thousand samurai returned to their original form and became a thousand garrisons.
The barracks of the 1,000-man army is in Liu County, and the coal fields currently being mined are also next to Liu County. More than half of the young and strong laborers in Liu County are employed by the coal fields. It can be said that Liu County is basically supported by the coal fields in Jiangnan Road.
Even the magistrate of Liu County was recommended by Jiangnan Province. To a certain extent, Liu County had become an enclave of Jiangnan Province.
The commander of the 1,000-man garrison was Li Jinyang, an Eagle-like general. At noon that day, he led an army to patrol around the coalfield. A cavalryman rode up on horseback, clasped his fists and saluted, saying, "General Li, General Zheng has something urgent to discuss with you!"
Li Jinyang nodded and ordered: "Let's go back to the city!"
He returned to Liu County with 300 soldiers. As soon as he entered the city gate, the chief steward Zheng Rong came up to him and said, "We just received news from Jiangnan that the imperial army has passed Yucheng County and is heading towards Pengcheng County. The King of Jin has sent 5,000 cavalry to support us and asked us to protect the young and strong men in the coal fields."
Li Yangjin certainly knew the consequences of a war: all the food and young men would be looted.
"Does the steward have any plan?"
Zheng Rong said quickly: "There is enough coal in stock now. I suggest temporarily stopping the work and withdrawing all the young and strong men back to the city and arming them with bows and arrows and swords and spears. I am worried that Li Zitong will come to steal the food."
Li Yangjin thought about it and it made sense. Li Zitong had sent people to borrow food several times, so he really had to be careful of him on the eve of the war.
"We'll call it a day and go back to the city!"
The bell for the end of work rang immediately in the coal field. "Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!"
More than 6,000 young and strong coal miners retreated to Liu County from all directions.
As Zheng Rong expected, in the afternoon, a grain collector named Li Zitong led more than a thousand soldiers to Liu County.
(End of this chapter)