Han Xiufeng took his wife and children out to play for nearly two months, and Shi Zanqing, the Tongzhi of the North Bank Hall, was busy on the river for more than two months. After surviving the spring flood, he hurriedly summoned the people to strengthen the river embankment, repaired several grass sluices and stone sluices along the river, and even diverted the water of the Mangniu River into the Yongding River to wash away the silt accumulated in the downstream river from the upstream during the spring flood.

Just when Shi Zanqing was ambitious and ready to repair the remaining embankments before the summer flood, Wu Tingdong sent someone to send a good news that the money and grain for repairing the embankment had been lost, so he quickly led people to the South Bank Hall to receive it.

Shi Zanqing was both happy and a little strange, thinking that although Han Si no longer had to worry about Heying's food, the food and salary that Su Shun helped raise was only enough, and even if there was a surplus, he would not give up the hard-won food to the Provincial Department.

Thinking of Wu Tingdong's impeachment of Han Si a few days ago, Shi Zanqing was very unsure, and he was not in a hurry to send someone to the ancestral house to receive money and grain, but rushed to the Provincial Department with a few officials on fast horses, intending to find out what was going on with the money and grain first.

He looked at the inventory of money and grain in his hand, and after a long while, he asked with a smile: "Eight hundred soldiers were transferred at once, and there are only six or seven hundred people left, and most of them are serving in Jinghai." Lord Wu, so the emperor doesn't need to defend Gyeonggi with Heying? ”

Wu Tingdong put down the teacup and said with a smile: "Brother Jizhen, I can't hide it, in fact, I expected all this." It was because I had expected it earlier, so when Han Si arrived in office, he asked me for money and food, and I didn't give it if I could, and I delayed it if I could. ”

"Expected?"

"Brother Jizhen, don't you think I'm an afterthought?"

"How dare you, I just don't understand......"

Wu Tingdong sent away the family members who were waiting on the side, and explained with a smile: "Actually, it is very simple, there is a reason to rectify the river camp, and now there is a reason to transfer troops from the river camp, which is the so-called time and time." ”

"What is the difference between now and then, please let me know."

"At that time, the battle situation was unclear, the Gyeonggi army was empty, everyone in the capital was in danger, and even the emperor could not sleep well. I asked for the rectification of the river camp for the purpose of raising silver to govern the river, and the emperor and the adults in the military aircraft department were not thinking about the river affairs, but about the safety of the Gyeonggi important land, so these things came about later. ”

Wu Tingdong smiled, and then said: "Brother Cizhen, you just said that there are still hundreds of soldiers in the river camp serving in Jinghai, but in fact, those hundreds of soldiers are not in Jinghai, but in Fucheng. Jinghai is only more than 100 miles away from us, and Fucheng is hundreds of miles away from here, the reason why Han Si and Chen Chongtong said that those soldiers went to Jinghai was actually worried that the army would be unstable and that they would not be able to explain to the local gentry, because when they recruited the troops, they swore to others that the river camp was to defend the family and the country in Gyeonggi, and they went to Jinghai only to train the troops, and they would not go out to quell the chaos like the towns in Zhili. ”

"Lord Wu, so the long hair that is entrenched in the Jinghai and the Duliu has been repulsed?" Shi Zanqing asked subconsciously.

"It's not that it's been repulsed, it's that I fled in a hurry, and it was last month." Wu Tingdong took another sip of tea, looked at Shi Zanqing and said: "When I just surrounded Changmao, the monk king did not move, and only Lord Shengbao's army attacked the fortification alone, so it was naturally difficult to win quickly. Shengbao didn't dare to offend the monk Greenqin, so he could only set up camp between Duliu and Jinghai to cut off the connection between the two long-haired places.

Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang did not sit still, but sent soldiers to break the embankment and release water, and took the opportunity to build a wooden barrier between Jinghai and Duliu. Although Shengbao's plan to divide and encircle and suppress did not work, after the division of the three troops of Changmao, the troops became more and more thin, and the food and grass became increasingly scarce, and the situation took a sharp turn for the worse, so he could only flee suddenly. ”

"Where did you flee?" Shi Zanqing asked eagerly.

According to Chen Chongtong, the long hair entrenched in Jinghai broke through first, and fled from the east road to the family village. Immediately afterwards, the main force of long-haired hair entrenched in the Duliu also moved south one after another. It happened suddenly, and when Lord Katsuho reacted and sent troops to intercept it, it was already dark and it was impossible to distinguish its traces, so he had to withdraw his troops. ”

Wu Tingdong touched the corners of his mouth, and continued: "Later, it was discovered that Changmao fled to Shucheng Town in the northeast of Hejian, and occupied the nearby Taoyuan and Xicun two villages. The monk king and Shengbao took the opportunity of the long hair to rest and quickly gather the officers and soldiers, led the army to the city one after another, surrounded the Shucheng group, and ordered the people of the villages within a radius of 30 miles to move all the stored grain and grass away, cutting off the food source of the thieves.

The villages around Shucheng are dense and densely wooded, which is convenient for both building fortifications and concealment, and Changmao divides his main force into several teams to guard Shucheng and six or seven villages. Because the monk king and Lord Shengbao were in a hurry, they failed to bring siege weapons such as 10,000 catties of giant cannons, and they lacked artillery and even food, so they fell into glue work with long hair. ”

Shi Zanqing asked, "What happened later?" ”

"The officers and soldiers are short of food, and the long hair is even more scarce! Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang probably knew that if they continued to hold each other like this, they would run out of food, so they guarded for nearly a month and took advantage of the heavy snow to break through the official army from the east and flee to Xian County in one go. The monk king and the lord Shengbao arrived one after another, and took advantage of its unstable foothold to storm the west gate of Xian County. Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang were undecided, like lost dogs, and broke through from the south gate overnight and fled to Fucheng in a hurry. ”

Thinking that Fucheng County was five or six hundred miles away from the capital, and that the imposing and invincible long hair of the year ago was like a lost dog, and it was a matter of time before it was exterminated by Seng Lingqin and Shengbao, Shi Zanqing muttered: "The emperor no longer has to worry about the long hair of the northern criminals, and those princes and ministers in the court no longer have to worry about the safety of Gyeonggi. ”

"So Heying doesn't have to defend Gyeonggi anymore," Wu Tingdong smiled, and said meaningfully: "If nothing else, you will be transporting the first batch of money and grain later, and you will be able to transport the second batch in a few days." ”

"Lord Wu, are you saying that the imperial court is going to abolish the river camp and transfer the remaining hundreds of soldiers?"

"The river camp will not be retrenched, but sooner or later the soldiers will be transferred. Think about it, in order to suppress the long hair of Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang, the emperor not only ordered Prince Hui to be the general, awarded a sharp sword, and even asked Prince Hui to transfer the capable soldiers of the Jianrui, firearms, forwards, guards, patrols and other battalions. Now that I don't have to worry about Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang, how can I see that the troops in Beijing are empty, but I Gu'an is stationed with more than 1,000 elite soldiers who have been in battle? ”

Shi Zanqing subconsciously looked up and looked outside, and saw that there was no talent outside, and asked in a low voice: "Lord Wu, is the emperor worried about you, or is he worried about Han Zhixing?" ”

"The emperor is not worried about me Wu Tingdong, nor is he worried about him Han Xiufeng, but it is not suitable to be strong outside and middle-class cadres after all. What's more, now everyone knows that the river camp is Su Shun's soldiers, and as far as I know, even the king of Dingjun asked for hundreds of troops from the river camp to be transferred into the infantry army and patrol the battalions that have been exhausted. ”

King Zaiquan of Dingjun is the commander of the infantry army, that is, the commander of the nine gates in the mouth of the people.

The commander of the infantry army, the Yamen, shouldered the responsibility of the safety and security of the capital, and the available soldiers who could guard the capital and maintain the law and order of the capital were all withdrawn.

Thinking of this, Shi Zanqing smiled bitterly: "Gongwei Gyeonggi's errand is really not something anyone can do. ”

"So you and I would rather not have this glory than get involved in the disputes between the princes and ministers."

"It's just that Han Si is not busy in vain, and he has offended so many people."

He Han Si seemed to have been wronged, but he didn't work in vain, at least he helped the imperial court recruit and train more than 1,000 capable soldiers. It's just that he was involved in the disputes between the princes and ministers in the capital, and he had just been impeached, so he could only do this for a while, and after a while, when there was a suitable vacancy, he would definitely be entrusted with an important task. ”

Shi Zanqing secretly thought that you were talking lightly, and even wanted to say that it was you who impeached him, but these words could only be put in his heart, and he was silent for a while before he asked curiously: "Lord Wu, you are well-informed, do you know how the imperial court will arrange the remaining hundreds of soldiers in the river camp?" ”

"I can't really talk about Lingtong, but I've heard some news."

"What's the news?"

"I heard from friends in the capital that the emperor gave permission to the king of Dingjun to play, and he would transfer some troops back to the capital from the front of the Fucheng formation, and organize them into the infantry army and patrol the camps. Yongxiang will not only be able to return to Beijing soon, but will soon be promoted, I estimate that a guerrilla will not be able to escape, and it is a guerrilla attack of the infantry army commander Yamen. ”

"In this way, Han Si's subordinates will be left without soldiers, and won't the river camp exist in name only?"

"That's not it, I heard from a friend in the capital that the emperor plans to leave 200 soldiers for Han Si, and he will still be stationed in Gu'an, and he will guard against various floods along the river."

Shi Zanqing couldn't help but sigh: "Other people's officials are getting bigger and bigger, but he is doing it better and better, but he is getting smaller and smaller, and there are only 200 soldiers left under the dignified Zhengwupin Tongzhi, what is the difference between this and Mr. Qian!" ”

Wu Tingdong didn't feel how much Han Si had been wronged, and said lightly: "I can't complain about others, if you want to complain, you can only complain about himself, whoever makes him sharp and offends people everywhere, whoever lets him climb the pole when he sees it, he has to climb the high branch." Besides, he only transferred some soldiers from his command, and did not dismiss his officers and take him from his position. ”

"Understood."

"By the way, there's one more thing."

"What?" Shi Zanqing asked subconsciously.

Wu Tingdong put down the teacup, looked at him with a smile and said, "Brother Ci, I will go to Beijing with Chen Chongtong in two days to meet you, and I will bother you to come to the Provincial Department to take care of the river affairs for a few days." ”

Thinking that the emperor would not summon him to Beijing for no reason, Shi Zanqing hurriedly got up and said, "Lord Wu, you are going to be promoted, congratulations!" ”

"Don't rush to congratulate, you haven't skimmed the eight characters yet." Wu Tingdong smirked.

"I think it's a lot of Jiǔ don't leave ten, Lord Wu, can you reveal one or two, what is missing?"

"A friend in the capital said that the emperor intends to let me act as the acting envoy of Zhili," Wu Tingdong looked back at the door, confirmed that his family members were not outside, and said with a smile: "Chen Chongtong can be regarded as a good person, as long as he plays correctly and does not make mistakes, he will be able to act in Gu'an County after he comes back." ”