Comparable to when he was in charge of the Northern Army.

The generals of the Red Coat Army felt that they owed him a debt, so they wanted him to come back, return his old army to him, and give him one of the three senior military attache titles given by the court.

"By the way, we have talked about it so many times," Sun Zhuang said, "The situation in the north is very urgent. Jiangning and Huaidong don't want to delay it any longer. There are other things that are difficult to negotiate here. Huaidong wants to

Mr. Qin can come over and make a final decision - you tell me first!"

"The Huaiyang Military Town was established, but there were some disagreements on the military town's quota, location, money, local officials, and settlement of Dingkou..." Li Liang said with a grimace.

Sun Zhuang also had a general idea of ​​what could not be reached, but he didn't know how far the Red Coat Army would give in, and he didn't know if it could be reconciled.

Regarding the garrison issue, Jiang Ning's intention is to have the Red Coat Army stationed in Huaiyang City; Huaidong's intention is to have the Red Coat Army stationed in Huaiyang and Suining, and to give way to Suyu City, which is close to the inner line; Liu Miaozhen and Malan

Naturally, the first-class generals of the Red Coat Army did not want to let go of any place. They wanted to use the three cities as the horns to firmly control the core area of ​​Huaisi - of course, the three cities were all controlled by the Red Coat Army. The Red Coat Army

Jiang Ning and Huaidong insisted on not letting him come out. Neither Jiang Ning nor Huai Dong had any intention of forcing him.

In principle, the three counties of Huaiyang, Suining, and Suyu are temporarily under the jurisdiction of the Huai'an Prefecture; the three positions of county magistrate, county magistrate, and edict are selected by Jiangning; the officials are selected by the Huai'an Prefecture from among the local gentry.

The army nominally accepted the control of Huaidong Military Division - because of this matter, Huaidong almost set off a table and had a quarrel with Jiang Ning.

Considering that it is more convenient for Huaiyang Military Town’s food and salary to be paid by the military leader Liu Tingzhou, and Huaidong facilitated this behind the scenes, it would be difficult to convince Huaidong without any benefit. Jiang Ning finally bowed his head on this matter.

This made Huaidong Military Division a great vassal with the power to control the military and town.

Jiangning only agreed to provide 20,000 soldiers, each with four measures of grain per month and three coins of silver to pay for the military town of Huaiyang. Liu Miaozhen and Malantou hoped to retain the 30,000 soldiers they had secretly agreed with Huaidong - these 30,000

The soldiers and horses are the elites of the Huaisili people's army who have been eliminated through years of war. How could Liu Miaozhen and Ma Lantou be willing to disperse these soldiers and horses as a last resort?

Liu Tingzhou came here this time and brought some concessions, that is, on the basis of the money and food provided by the 20,000 soldiers, an additional part will be coordinated internally by the Red Coat Army. The Lianghuai salt and silver are only 1.8 million taels per year, and Jiangning

The amount of money and food allocated to Huaiyang Military Town is capped at 200,000 taels, which is almost the limit of Jiangning. There are too many places where money is needed.

Of course, Jiangning's willingness to allocate 200,000 taels of silver every year and grant officials and rewards was very generous in the eyes of Jiangning's princes, but it was far from solving the problem of the Red Coat Army.

It is enough for the generals and soldiers to eat four measures of grain per month. The key is to pay them.

When it was exchanged for him, three coins of silver could buy six or seven buckets of rice, which was barely enough to support the family. Besides, the family had some fields to cultivate, and their life was not bad. At this time, three coins of silver were in front of Hao Si and others.

The land can only buy two bushels of grain. It is slightly better to go to Huaidong, where you can buy half a bushel more, but if you include the transportation money to Huaiyang, the difference is not much different.

However, when the red-coated army came over, the family had no farmland to cultivate, and the soldier's family had only three coins of silver to survive, which in reality could only cost one life.

This is still calculated based on 20,000 soldiers. If it were divided among 30,000 soldiers, the situation would be even more embarrassing - of course, this is much better than the most difficult time, so there is nothing that cannot be compromised.

After the key to entering Huaisi, in addition to the red coat army retaining its intact establishment, more than 50,000 refugee troops were disbanded on the spot and dispersed as refugees to rural villages to receive relief - this group of refugee troops, including their small families, exceeded two

One hundred thousand people. In addition to these, there are almost 140,000 to 50,000 war refugees in the Huaisi area.

In addition to the Red Coat Army and Jia Xiao, preliminary statistics show that the total number of other refugees stranded in the Huaisi area is almost 360,000.

Jiang Ning advocated expelling these refugees from the Huaisi area and letting them return to their hometowns.

"Master Gan, tell me, after being driven out of Huaisi without even a living ration, you will either starve to death on the road, or you will rebel again," Li Liang said angrily, "Jiang Ning

How come we can’t think of it? They still want to deceive us as fools! They just allow the refugees to cause trouble, and then send us to suppress it-damn, we can do this kind of thing of burning bridges across rivers-and besides, forget it

The Red Coat Army and the family have been preserved, and the others are mostly relatives and neighbors in the countryside. Do you really have the heart to drive them away, regardless of whether they live or die? "

"Pah!" Sun Zhuang drank all the wine in one gulp and put the cracked bowl on the table without saying anything.

"Over in Huaidong, can there be any rice and grain surplus this year?" Li Liang asked.

In the past half year, Huaidong secretly transported nearly 200,000 stones of rice and grain, which was the key to the Red Coat Army stabilizing its position in Huaisi and allowing the 300,000 to 400,000 refugees to survive.

In late April, Lin Fu rushed to attack eastern Zhejiang, and the Huaidong Army's strength nearly doubled.

Liu Miaozhen and Ma Lantou naturally want to continue to get Huaidong's secret support, but if Huaidong's troops expand to 60,000 to 70,000 people, how much extra financial resources will they have? They don't know how Huaidong operates, so they can only use conventional thinking

Let’s speculate on Huaidong’s financial resources. Especially after the Jinhai grain road was stopped, Huaidong also lost one of its most important financial resources.

Furthermore, when they formally accepted the imperial court's call for peace, they only accepted the control of the Huaidong Military Division in name only. The food and salary were changed to be allocated by the Huaidong Military Division controlled by Liu Tingzhou. There was no reason to ask Huaidong to secretly support the money and grain.

The money and food Jiang Ning was willing to allocate could barely support 30,000 horses and families.

Not to mention the 300,000 to 400,000 refugees. The refugees will compete with local forces for land. If they are not handled well, it will lead to sharp conflicts. Even if Huaiyang, Suining, and Suyu have enough wasteland to accommodate so many people, with the current high

With the price of grain so high, Master Jiang Ning said that he would have to spend six to seven hundred thousand taels of silver to accommodate so many people.

Some of the Lianghuai salt and silver can still be squeezed out, but all forces are eyeing the Lianghuai silver. Among the Jiangning princes such as Yue Lengqiu, and even Gu Wuchen, who is willing to waste the Lianghuai salt and silver on the refugees?

"Suyu and Suining have agreed not to compete with the local area for land. We should be able to cultivate some land here in Huaiyang," Sun Zhuang asked, "won't there be no harvest at all here?"

"Yes, there is nothing to hide from you, Mr. Gan," Li Liang said, "but it is really ugly. As you walk along, you can also see that the fields opened here in Huaidong can produce 20,000 to 30,000 shi this year.

The rice harvest is as big as the sky!"

"I'm coming here. I heard from you that I can still support this point, but I don't know the specific number in Master Qin's belly." Sun Zhuang said. He was also worried that Huaidong only occupied such a small amount of space.

The amount of food we can raise is really limited.

"It's okay," Li Liang said, "As long as you tighten your pants and you can get through it."

Sun Zhuang was afraid that Qin Chengzu would ask him something, so he did not talk to Li Liang outside, so he returned to the post house. Sun Zhuang did not hide what he had said to Li Liang from Qin Chengzu, but briefly summarized it, and asked with a frown.

: "Huaiyang can only collect 20,000 to 30,000 kilograms of grain. There is really a shortage. How much can Huaidong squeeze out?"

"The Cavalry Captain is a third-grade general. Isn't it a pity for you to refuse?" Qin Chengzu asked, "Huaidong can at most help you get the title of Zhaowu Colonel, but there is a gap of three or four ranks...

"

"What's the use of being a Guilaoguan in the imperial court? I haven't repaid my debt to you, and the imperial court asked me to be a prince. It's not worth it." Sun Zhuang said.

"..." Qin Chengzu smiled and said, "Huaidong can still squeeze out some food, but just like good iron must be used on the edge, Huaidong is currently building a defense line to defend against the Donghu people on the northern front.

How to use the squeezed-out food depends on this. Can you tell me how to build the northern defense line?"

"The ditches are all gone. Except for a few big rivers, the Donghu people are pouring in. They are afraid that they will not be able to stop until they reach the Huaihe River," Sun Zhuang said. "Here in Huaiyang, if possible, the outside of the Huaiyang city wall must be covered with a layer of

Bricks are built around Huaiyang, diagonally to the northeast, connected with the Bianshui River, and then connected with Suining - but this is not good enough. It must be able to poke Chen Hansan's tortoise out and capture Xuzhou.

, the northern line is much more comfortable!”

"It's impossible in a short time, don't think about it." Qin Chengzu said.

Chen Hansan was able to struggle and survive, and the longer he survived, the stronger he became. He would not be without his excellence.

Chen Hansan held 20,000 elite troops and was extremely wary of this side. He was guarding the mighty city of Xuzhou, and many of the surrounding cities were under his control. It would be extremely difficult for Huaidong to remove Chen Hansan.

Besides, Jiangning and the Liang family in the north will not just sit back and watch Huaidong attack Chen Hansan. Once Huaidong sends troops to attack Xuzhou, Jiangning may hesitate, but the Liang family will almost certainly lead troops to assist the three coalition forces of Xuzhou and Chen Han.

Those fighting against Huaidong - at that time, not to mention the coalition forces fighting against Donghu, the internal forces would first be torn apart.

"Without Xuzhou, Huaiyang, and Suining connecting on both sides, it would be much uglier." Although Sun Zhuang is not as good as Zhang Gou in the art of war, he has served as a commander of an army after all, and his vision is still there. It is not comparable to ordinary people.

, said, "Then we must do what your Lord said and strengthen the Red Coat Army as much as possible - the current Red Coat Army has 30,000 elite soldiers. If they can have enough food, their combat strength will be similar to that of the Changhuai Army, but they lack

The bows and crossbows that can suppress cavalry are far different from those of the Changhuai Army. Sometimes they can only be filled with human lives. If the Donghu people have 10,000 cavalry to leak in, the red coat army can only hide in the walled city. It must be

For field battles, build more chariots and use large shields and spears to carry them, but you can barely hold the position. The barbarians are good cavalry and archers, and they will not forcefully rush into the formation. They are accustomed to attacking the flanks first and shooting with crossbows.

If even one corner of the formation cannot be held up, this field battle will be lost!"

"Although it's not precise enough, it's not bad in general," Qin Chengzu said, "My lord, if I don't feel like I'm humiliating you, I can teach you something!"

"Then I kowtow to you, old man!" Sun Zhuang got up and knelt on the ground to kowtow.

"Get up," Qin Chengzu held his arm and said, "merely learning the art of war is only Hinayana, while Mahayana is political affairs. You also have a deep understanding of Huaisi's situation. Tens of thousands of elite soldiers cannot actually build a stronghold to resist the penetration and breakthrough of Donghu cavalry...

…”

At this moment, someone came in to announce that Li Wei was back, and Qin Chengzu asked someone to bring him in quickly.

"After much talk, Jiang Ning refused to pull out even a hair on his head," Li Wei said distressedly, "If you want to follow your wishes, build a defense line in Huaiyang and north of Suining, we can't allow Dingkou to be evacuated to

Go north. We must also be as prepared as possible to receive the next large-scale influx of refugees from the north - south of the defense line to the Huaihe River, the land that can be used to resettle the refugees is too limited. Also, how much supplies can be allocated to the northern line?

!”

"Not counting the investment in the second line of defense in Siyang, Shanyang and Shukou," Qin Chengzu said, "Rice and food are in short supply everywhere. To prepare for the refugees from Jinhai to go south, it will take at least 300,000 stones of rice and food to be laid along the line.

Guarantee that no one will starve to death; before the end of the year, the most that can be squeezed out to Huaisi is only 400,000 stone grain."

Sun Zhuang originally thought it would decrease, but he did not expect that it would increase instead of decreasing. There are less than seven months to the end of the year, and he will invest 400,000 grains, which means that he can invest 60,000 dan per month, 50% more than before. After accepting the recruitment, the key is

The Jiangning side can pull out about 12,000 to 14,000 kilograms of grain every month. Compared with the situation since the beginning of the year, it can be said that the situation is completely different. Even ordinary refugees can only eat half full.

Of course, good iron is used on the cutting edge. Huaidong has its own plan on how to use so much food. He will not feed so many people in vain so that they can sleep under the sun every day.

"That's enough," Li Wei said, rubbing his hands, and said, "After all Jiangning's efforts, what you do is the art of the Dao. I am completely convinced by this mixed Confucianism dispute." He asked again, "Huaidong

How much iron can be squeezed out? Iron is very important. Just having enough food won't do the trick."

Since the Red Coat Army marched eastward, although Huaidong secretly transported grain every month, it had extremely strict control over strategic materials such as iron materials. To strengthen the combat effectiveness of the Red Coat Army and the ability of Huaisi to reclaim wasteland and cultivate crops, iron materials are a must.

Indispensable supplies.

"We have given one million kilograms of raw iron material and an upper limit of three hundred thousand kilograms of fine iron material. This should be sufficient!" Qin Chengzu said, "We will allocate some armor depending on the situation."

"Ha!" Li Wei said with a smile, "When you came here, you said you would give Liu Tingzhou 50,000 kilograms of iron. I was still thinking, I really underestimated Mr. Qin and the adults..."

"At the end of last year, your Excellency decided that the total iron output of the Chongzhou and Shanyang subway stations should exceed 7 million jins, and required the opening of coal and iron ships between Haidong and Chongzhou. Many people did not understand, and I also hesitated.

"Qin Chengzu said, "It seems that you have a plan..."
To be continued...