Because the sea near the shore had frozen, the ships carrying the Han army were actually docked next to a trestle bridge that was about a mile long. The bridge deck was paved with thick hardwood, about two feet high from the ice, and Nie Chounu looked down, only to see that under the trestle were thick piers, one after another, and muttered: "Good girl, it will take a lot of work to build this bridge." ”

Zhou Guangzong smiled: "Who said it wasn't? I heard that this stone pier is made of fine iron, but if there is no bridge, we will not be able to get to the shore. "Standing on the trestle, the wind was blowing, and both men had to speak loudly to make the other hear. But suddenly seeing this rare thing, my heart was also surging with inexplicable excitement. When the Han army came to the wharf, they saw that there were wooden houses and straw huts on the shore, and there was a walled city on a hill not far away. Nie Chounu recognized it at a glance, this walled city was somewhat similar to Nanshan City, and pointed out to Zhou Guangzong: "Look there, General Zhao's gossip city!" ”

Zhou Guangzong pursed his lips and said, "Brother Nie, that's the garrison yamen." "In every port controlled by the Xia state, there were garrison forts, some of which were tall and sturdy, some of which were short and simple, depending on their importance, but the shape was much the same. In this group of Han troops, Zhou Guangzong was a know-it-all about the situation in the north, and he pointed to a wooden house in the distance with the four big characters of "road" and "placement", and said with a smile: "There is the yamen that assigns road strips." ”

The new Han army was supposed to wait for the garrison to lead the way, but the wind on the wharf was strong, and the people were frozen to death, Zhou Guangzong relied on the sign of the yamen, so he took it upon himself to lead everyone towards the resettlement center, and when he was halfway there, he was stopped by two garrisons, and he had to look at his street sign. Zhou Guangzong and others were just going to get the road signs, where to get them, so the garrison asked them to go back to the dock to wait, the Han army was used to it, and they were willing to agree.

The crowd was arguing about it, and suddenly someone asked, "What's going on?" ”

Nie Chounu looked up and gasped, it was actually more than ten horseback riding teams. The horses were fat and strong, with long manes on all hooves and necks, and the cavalrymen sat upright on their horses, put their hands on their blades, and stared condescendingly at their own group, which made people can't help but be hairy. The leading officer seemed to ask casually, but the two garrisons became nervous, no longer paying attention to the group of Han soldiers, and one of them said respectfully: "Lord Bing, this group of newcomers has no street signs, but they are walking around the dock. ”

Zhou Guangzong had sharp eyes, and said loudly: "General Jin, Jin Sima, I am Zhou Guangzong, last month I followed General Zhang to Yuancheng on business, and the adults praised my name, and asked me to work hard to kill the enemy, and glorify my ancestors!" The rules in the north are strict, Zhou Guangzong has long known that he regrets it very much, but out of a kind of face psychology, he doesn't want to lose this person in front of Nie Chounu and others. He looked at Kim Chang-tae with anticipation, but his heart hung in his throat, what kind of character is Kim Chang-tae? Since Zhao De's expedition, he has been in charge of all the affairs of the northern region. The pawn of the edge of one side, does he still remember?

Fortunately, Jin Changtai recognized him and said with a smile: "Zhou Guangzong, it's not Zhou Guangyu, is General Zhang Liuge good?" ”

All the Han soldiers laughed, 'Zhou Guangyu' was a nickname in the army, and this Lord Jin called out in one mouthful, and it seemed that he really knew him. Zhou Guangzong was not embarrassed at all, and said respectfully: "General Zhang is guarding Marshal Han on Tieshan Island. His face was more respectful than reporting to the Shangguan of the camp.

Jin Changtai nodded and said with a smile: "With General Zhang here, the Shuai Mansion will definitely be as stable as Mount Tai." He paused, looked at the group of ragged Han soldiers, and said in a deep voice: "The things agreed in the army must not be changed at will. The Liao army is pressed against the border, the situation is sinister, and the meticulous work is pervasive, so that we have to guard against it. When marching and fighting in the north, be sure to put up the signs. He looked up in the direction of the dock, bowed his head and ordered the cavalry beside him, and the cavalry Pegasus galloped towards the dock, and soon brought the garrison who was responsible for leading Zhou Guangzong and others, and asked the garrison to take them to the road settlement.

As the saying goes, the drum doesn't need a heavy hammer, Jin Changtai's faint words, others heard nothing in their ears, but Zhou Guangzong's heart was red-faced, and he walked in the team with his head drooping. The Han army also didn't know his mood, and they talked about it. Someone said: "It's strange and strange, this General Jin is good-looking and speaks slowly, why did he look at me, I only felt that all the internal organs had been seen through, and his hands and feet were not placed." Someone said: "That's that, Brother Zhou, how big an official is he?" ”

"How old is the officer?" Zhou Guangzong replied angrily, "General Zhao is out on an expedition, and it is best to deal with large and small affairs according to his orders, and there is no one who dares to disobey from top to bottom in the north." "Oh-" "That's amazing! The crowd exclaimed, and when they turned their heads to look, the cavalry had galloped into the fortress on the hill, and the drawbridge was slowly being pulled up.

In the open space in the fortress, Jin Changtai tied the reins of the war horse, nodded and praised: "The leader horse really deserves its reputation, Li Sihai valued the anchor of the excellent port here, but let us get good horse breeds and pastures for nothing." He turned to the cavalry beside him and smiled: "When the ranch is built, your king will beat him with a stick, and he will not be willing to leave." ”

A dozen horsemen laughed. Recently, there has been a report from the garrison of the cantonment that wild horses have been found in the meadows to the north, and Kim Chang-tae is estimated to be a population of horses scattered in the wilderness after the fall of the Bohai Kingdom. So he personally led the cavalry to inspect it, and also tamed a dozen wild horses and brought them back, this kind of horse can not only bear the load, but also tolerate severe cold, compared with the horse breed of the Jurchen tribe in the south, it can not only be used to plow the ground, but also can be used as a mount for armored cavalry. So Kim Chang-tae planned to build a ranch to breed horses, on the one hand, to provide draft animals for logging and iron-making, and on the other hand, to select excellent horses to expand the cavalry of the garrison.

The cavalry was discussing enthusiastically, and Kim Chang-tae had already tied the reins and lifted his legs up the stairs. As soon as he entered the signing room, he saw that the garrison camp was supervising Shen, so he asked, "There was another ship docked just now, is there any news of General Zhao?" "Since the retreat of the Han Army's Marshal's Mansion, the news of Nanshan City has been intermittent.

"Still no news." Chashen handed the silk book in his hand to Kim Chang-tae, "The news brought this time is not as new as the one brought by the previous ship." Kim Chang-tae hung it on the sika antlers, took the silk book, and glanced at it quickly.

The ship that departed first from Tieshan Island arrived later, and the day when the news came out was indeed not as good as the last time. This time, the news said that although the sea water of Nanshan City was frozen, Li Sihai's gunboats could still bombard the Liao soldiers passing through the ice. The last news was that the sea ice continued to thicken and extend, and the range of the artillery could no longer reach the shore, so the sailors could only contact Nanshan City through the banner, and the Liao army drove the brigade to the hinterland of Suzhou Guannan to besiege Nanshan City and Tieshan Fort.

"Nesting in this cold place, I really miss the messenger of the Military Intelligence Department!"

"For most of the past six months, we have developed too fast, the pigeon post of the Military Intelligence Department is not so easy to build, and the pigeons need time to identify new terrain." Kim Chang-tae put the silk book into a file and said secretly: "Okay, you must be able to defend the city you built yourself." ”

The northernmost port of Subin is thousands of miles away from Suzhou. The Liao army went north with Yelu Dashi to conquer Huanglongfu, and the southern army stormed Nanshan City, and the capital Yelu Yanshan was seriously injured, and the Liao State transferred the fierce general Xiao Tachi from the north to attack Suzhou. In the past month or so, the pressure on the Han army and Xia Guoying in the north has been much less, but Suzhou Nanshan can only be an isolated city before the sea ice melts. Neither the Han army nor the Chengying battalion could share the pressure of the Liao army on Nanshan City.

Kim Chang-tae took a deep breath and slowly flipped through the dossier, reviewing the documents submitted in various places. In the eyes of others, he is in power and has great scenery, and only Kim Chang-tae himself knows the weight of this burden. His official position is only that of a 700-person Chengying battalion, but in fact, he is in charge of all affairs, from logging and mining, to building forts, training garrison camps, and then supplementing Zhao Xingde from the garrison who are strong and daring to fight. In addition to these daily matters, he had to settle more than 100,000 Han people who had migrated to the Han people, and soon he would have to settle more than 10,000 Han troops. He had to be vigilant against the movements of the surrounding Goryeo people, the wild Jurchen tribes in various places, as well as the Jin army and the Liao army, and mobilize the forces at the disposal of the Chengying Battalion to respond to all aspects of the movement in a timely manner.

Cha Shen looked at the other documents brought by the sea ship, and suddenly said, "Jin Sima, here is a letter from you." ”

Kim Chang-tae took it, looked at the cover first, it was his father's handwriting, opened it and looked at it, in addition to shouting for warmth, he also said another thing. To the effect that a certain merchant surnamed Pan has two sons, and the father asked the younger son to take a large amount of the family's capital to open a business in Liaodong, and recently the father died suddenly, and there was no will, so the people in the long house should go to Liaodong to collect the business in accordance with the "primogeniture inheritance law". Kim Chang-tae's father asked him to take care of the collector, but he must not mess with the law and trap himself in it.

Jin Changtai knew that this businessman surnamed Pan was a partner in the Jin family's long-term house business, but he had little to do with his own family. It just so happened that a few days ago, the family who fought for property brought the lawsuit to the garrison mansion, because the business name was one of the best in the Guest Mansion, and he had also heard of it.

Kim Chang-tae originally wanted to hand over the case to the Chamber of Commerce Tribunal, but after receiving this letter, he changed his mind. He asked Cha Shen for the dossier, and read it carefully, but the second son of the Pan family, who came to lead the Binfu to do business, said that his father gave him the capital to set up his own business. Both sides insist on their own words, and both accuse the other of lying. Jin Changtai pondered for a moment, found the piece of paper that Pan's Changfang requested, and commented with a red pen in a conspicuous place, "Liaodong is a land outside Hua, and it is advisable to follow the customs, except for agricultural land, do not use the "Primogeniture Inheritance Law". ”

The annotation was not signed, and Kim Chang-tae asked Chashen to take a look at it. Cha Shen is not proficient in the law, and Jin Changtai is in charge of the civil affairs of Liaodong, so he nodded yes when he saw it. Jin Changtai said with a smile: "It is inconvenient for our garrison to interfere too much in this business dispute, so as not to cause a commotion, let's listen to the Chamber of Commerce Tribunal." So he called a garrison and forwarded the file of the property dispute to the Inquisition of the Chamber of Commerce.