Chapter 405: Squatting
May is commonly known as the evil month. It has many taboos, one of which is the prohibition on building houses.
As for whether building a city counts as building a house, that is a matter of benevolence and wisdom.
When Shao Xun got the details of the city construction sent from the court, he looked at it for a long time and then gave his opinion.
The city near the ferry on the south bank is not small. It is divided into two parts, the inner and outer cities, with a circumference of more than ten miles.
The city on the sandbank in the river is much smaller.
The imperial court sent people to conduct a survey and determined that even if they chose the widest place, they could only build a small city of about four miles, and there was no outer city, which was smaller than many county towns.
Okay, smaller county towns are just that big, but as a military facility, such a big city is obviously not suitable. The main problem is that it cannot store too many supplies.
But the objective conditions are there, and there is no good solution.
If, like in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, several sandbars were connected together to form a large piece of land, the margin would be much greater.
"How is Xun Song?" Shao Xun was leaning on the bed, as if he had just finished bathing. His robe was loose and he was probably not wearing anything underneath.
Wang Xuan, who came from Luoyang, didn't take it seriously.
When scholars entertain guests, there should not be too many such scenes. It's just that Shao Xun didn't have such a bohemian style before, which made him a little strange.
"This man is the great-great-grandson of Xun Yu, who is elegant and good at literature..." Wang Xuan said.
"Stop." Shao Xun stretched out his hand to stop, and said: "If I remember correctly, this person has a close relationship with Wang Dun, Lu Ji, Gu Rong and others. They often play together and recite poems and compose poems. . But if there is any military strategy, it is not necessarily right?"
As soon as the word "Wang Dun" came out, there was a sound in the next room.
Wang Xuan didn't care, because he was indeed a little worried when Shao Xun said this.
"The matter has come to this, there is no point in worrying." Shao Xun said: "Just ask Xun Song not to give blind orders."
Learn like Wang Dun and let his subordinates do it.
The left guard, right guard, and Xiaoqi all have generals. Under the generals there are three governors, a palace general, and a school captain...
As long as they don't act randomly, although the army is slow and stupid, it is not without the strength to fight. After all, Wang Mi is not that strong.
Wang Xuan also had the same view, but he was still a little worried, and in the end he just sighed softly.
"How are the preparations for food, grass and ordnance going?" Shao Xun asked again.
"Ordnance is quite insufficient, so we can only allocate part of it first." Wang Xuan said: "Food and grass are very difficult. The first batch of grain has just been shipped over in Shouchun, and the second batch of canal ships has not yet set off. We can only We will send 100,000 hu of corn first, and the rest will wait until the end of June or early July."
Shao Xun glared at him and said, "I have mobilized so many soldiers and horses, and the monthly food expenditure will be 80,000 hu. "How long will one hundred thousand dendrobium be enough?"
"Use it first..." Wang Xuan was a little embarrassed.
Who is to blame for this? It seems that the emperor is still to blame.
After the Chinese New Year this year, a large number of people from Luoyang went eastward to Yangzhou via Yuzhou and went south to Yangzhou. The population of Luoyang decreased by a considerable amount, and the food consumption was not so large.
Seeing this, the emperor used food as bait to recruit strong men from the refugees to join the Forbidden Army, and launched the Battle of Xin'an.
After doing this, food suddenly became tight.
To put it bluntly, after excluding the 100,000 grains spent on Shao Xun, the grain reserves in Taicang, Dongyangmen, are only enough to last until July.
If there is no water ship coming in June and July, we will have to wait until the autumn harvest in August to see if we can scrape out some more grain.
But how long can it last? I'm afraid I won't be able to survive this year. After all, Luoyang's agricultural production has been too severely damaged.
But that’s not the scariest thing.
The most worrying thing is what will happen if one day Jiangdong, Xuzhou and other places run out of grain to Beijing?
"Doing some unreasonable things all day long." Shao Xun said displeased: "Wang Mi wants to fight, but not now. Or, the emperor has thought clearly, Xin'an and Mengjin can only fight in one place, Did you think it was the time when the Jin Dynasty was at its peak?"
After hearing this, Wang Xuan became even more disgusted with the emperor and sighed repeatedly.
Think about it, the matter of food and grass has not been determined, and a war suddenly breaks out, is there such a war? It is even more unlucky to think that this dispatch of troops was caused by the emperor threatening to move the capital and "messing around".
The emperor wanted to move the capital, but the ministers were reluctant and tried to dissuade him. The emperor took the opportunity to bargain, and finally ended up in such a mess.
"When will Ming Gong leave?" Wang Xuan stopped worrying about these troubles and changed the subject.
"Just these few days." Shao Xun said: "I have allocated 50,000 dendrobium millet from Xinzhengcang, but it has not been shipped yet. The ugly thing is ahead. If we don't see the army rations in July, I will give up my job. "
Wang Xuan knew very well that even if Shao Xun was not given military rations in July, he would not really quit. Instead, he would find a way to adjust the rations from Yuzhou and supplement it himself.
But that’s not how things work. No matter how tight the food supply of the imperial court is, they have to find ways to squeeze it out, so he said with emotion: "Don’t worry, Ming Gong, I will definitely allocate 100,000 dendrobium of military rations to Mengjin by mid-July at the latest." .”
Shao Xun was noncommittal.
Your Wang Xuan guarantee is useless. Not to mention anything else, if the battle of Xin'an fails and Wang Mi is allowed to attack Luoyang City, how will you transport food? It won't be fun if it involves me returning from the front line to support me.
"Let's do this for now." Shao Xun said: "The situation over Xin'an will be reported one day at a time and sent to our army. Before the autumn harvest in August, I will let the Zhongwu Army go north and attack Wei Ban Erling and Jichi are just for containment. The imperial court will find its own way. Remember, caution is the most important thing.”
On the battlefield, there is a strange phenomenon, that is, a certain big battle. After the battle broke out, the losing side retreated significantly and gave up a lot of land. Especially in those places where the terrain is difficult and dangerous, there is no intention to fight when they are defeated, everyone is scrambling for their lives and fleeing, and they are easily given up. When he adjusted later and wanted to regain this land, he had to pay a heavy price because the enemy already had the advantage.
Xin'an belongs to this category.
In the past two years, it is not that the Huns have not marched from this direction, and it is not that the imperial court has not fought with the Huns in Xin'an or even farther west, but every time the Huns withdrew, they did not occupy this land. After Guanzhong was captured, they had no worries and directly captured Hongnong and gave it to Wang Mi.
Wang Mi only controlled the territory of five counties. His enthusiasm was much stronger than that of the Huns, so he was naturally easy to manage. If the court wants to get Xin'an back now, it will definitely have to pay a price in blood.
"By the way, has the imperial court recruited troops from other states and counties?" Shao Xun asked.
"Yes." Wang Xuan nodded affirmatively and said: "Jingxiang is still in war and cannot send troops, but Xiangyang still sent three thousand troops northward. There are no troops dispatched to Yangzhou."
Shao Xun nodded.
The reason why he asked this was simply to analyze how much prestige the imperial court still had.
In the Sima Yue era, although Luoyang was besieged many times, Yangzhou still sent two troops. One was the Huainan troops led by Wang Kuang, who were completely wiped out by Shangdang; the other was the Wu Xing troops led by Qian Chuan. Fearing the Huns, they directly rebelled in Guangling.
Jingzhou also sent five thousand troops northward, but they returned halfway because the siege of Luoyang had been lifted.
After Sima Yue's death, the situation in Luoyang remained difficult. At this time, only Jingzhou was willing to send troops, while Jiangdong silently refused the court's call - this is not Sima Rui's fault, it's just that the wealthy people in Wu were unwilling to send troops.
Fortunately, they are still willing to provide money and food.
If one day they are unwilling to give out money and food, the Luoyang court will really lose its prestige. What remains may be just a little bit of righteousness, and even the appointment and removal of officials may not be possible.
"You go back." Shao Xun sighed and said, "Take care of yourself. If your family members can move out of Luoyang, they will move out."
"Jingfeng and Huifeng no longer live in Luoyang." Wang Xuan said subconsciously.
Shao Xun gave him a funny look and said nothing.
He doesn’t want women anymore. He is too virtuous to bother with her.
After sending Wang Xuan away, Shao Xun had the bed moved to the window of Concubine Pei's bedroom and had a conversation.
"...Are you sure about this battle?" Concubine Pei asked.
There was a child crying in the house, as if he was hungry, but fortunately it stopped after a while.
Shao Xun was itching to hear this and said: "How can there be any uncertainty in a war? But it is better to block the river and resist the enemy than to take risks and attack."
The last time we fought with the Huns It's a mobile battle. If nothing goes wrong this time, it will be a pit battle. The difference is still huge.
However, this is very suitable for him who is mainly an infantryman, because his mobility is really poor.
"Well." Concubine Pei's voice came again: "Don't be so stubborn. We, the two of us, are waiting for you to come back."
"Okay." Shao Xun said, "Unless Liu Cong appears in front of me, I will It's a deep ditch and a high base, and we can't get out."
"Is Yanzhou sure?" Concubine Pei asked again.
"Nothing happens for now. It's hard to say when the autumn harvest will come in August." Shao Xun said, "But don't worry, it's just the soldiers coming to cover up the water and the soil."
Fei Pei was silent for a while. , and said: "Last year the Huns suffered a loss, will they come again this year when the river freezes?"
Shao Xun frowned, don't tell me, it is really possible.
Compared with the Yangtze River, the Yellow River has a fatal flaw, that is, it freezes in winter, and there are many places where people, horses, and vehicles can pass directly.
During the Eastern and Western Wei Dynasties, the Western Wei Dynasty often sent people to dig ice in key river sections to prevent the Eastern Wei army from crossing the river.
The Yellow River is not the Yangtze River after all, so it’s hard to compare.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Shao Xun said, "You take care of the kids at home first, don't worry about me, wait for me to come back."
"Yes." Concubine Pei said softly: "When you come back, hug the baby more."
"The matter about Princess Xiangcheng..." Shao Xun hesitated for a long time and finally asked.
"She will not join the Shao family, she is the wife of the Wang family." Concubine Pei only said this sentence and said no more.
Shao Xun didn’t know how to describe his mood.
When your wife is unable to serve you, introduce her relatives to you.
Over there, if Yu Wenjun is pregnant, it seems that he can still play his wife’s best friend?
Really...
On the last day of May, Shao Xun received a letter from Yu Wenjun.
Xiao Nizi has returned to Xuchang, serving her parents-in-law and taking care of the family business.
Shao Xun has never seen such a long letter, and he wrote several pages.
The little girl shared every interesting story with him, making Shao Xun feel even more guilty.
I swear once again to control Jill.
After taking the oath, he wrote a reply letter and strode away from Kao City, heading north with the whole army.
(End of this chapter)