A group of Han soldiers gathered around the bonfire, facing the firelight, Nie Chounu took out a few crumpled pieces of paper from his arms, this piece of paper is of good quality, it will not be muddy if it is slightly soaked in water, he is also illiterate, only those colorful patterns, looked over and over again, and finally put the pieces of paper into his arms, and whispered suspiciously: "This thing, can it really be exchanged for food?" ”

Several Han soldiers around looked at each other, they were all going to the north of the Gongmen River area, and they received such a stack of fifteen pieces of paper on Tieshan Island, it is said that one on the shore can be exchanged for a bucket of grain. All the Han soldiers and soldiers are suspicious. Nie Chounu sighed, everyone's faces were cloudy, spending the winter in that far north, if there was no food and grass, they would have to wait for death. Others talked about it for a long time, but Zhou Guangzong only smiled and said nothing beside him, and he turned his head and used a wooden stick to pluck firewood. Someone finally noticed that something was wrong, and asked with a smile: "Brother Zhou, is this piece of paper good, why don't you keep your head shut and don't speak?" ”

"What am I doing with this mouth?" Zhou Guangzong smiled: "If you throw all of these away, I'll pick up a cheap one." ”

The more he joked like this, the more humble everyone was to teach, Nie Chounu remembered that he had been to the north on business, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Does this piece of paper work, but also give guidance to the old brothers?" The two of them escaped from a village, Nie Chou Nu was older, and Zhou Guangzong usually took care of him more, so he didn't sell Guan Zi, and said with a smile: "When you get to the north, this piece of paper is better than gold and silver, and in the cold winter, as long as it can be exchanged for full food." The big guy has to be nervous, don't be deceived by people spending a little money. ”

"Oh, that's it." All the Han troops suddenly realized.

Of course, some people doubted: "It's so easy to use, really?" ”

"Is that fake?" Zhou Guangzong said with a smile, "Why don't we change it, and exchange one or two pieces of silver for ten sheets, why don't you do it?" As he spoke, he stretched out his hand. "The man stepped aside as if he had been stung by a scorpion, and placed the piece of paper on his chest with great care.

This kind of thing happens in all corners of Tieshan Island, in this world, except for the little things about men and women, the gossip related to money and food is always the fastest spread, and the credibility is far better than the official announcement. In the camp tent in another corner, facing more than a dozen Han army officers, Wang Tongdeng said in a deep voice: "Dongmu tickets must be issued by the quartermaster to each soldier in person, this is a rule set by General Zhao, and no one can fail to follow it!" ”

All the officers gasped, Zhao De's rules were strict, one after another, one after another, one set after another, interlocking, almost rigid, and there was a lot of truth behind it. Everyone in Suzhou Guannan knows that breaking his rules is tantamount to causing trouble for himself.

The use of this Dongmu ticket is much better known to the officers than the non-commissioned officers below, and it is actually a kind of Jiaozi. People in the Song Dynasty said that the prosperous era collected gold in troubled times, and money could make ghosts grind. But in the winter of Liaodong, grain can buy people's lives, and grain can make grinding ghosts. At the beginning, Dongmu tickets were issued mainly as a reserve, and an ordinary ticket was worth a bucket of grain, and Tong Su was not bullied. In the north, there is only Xia Guoying who has hoarded enough grain and continuously transported a large amount of grain, and is not afraid of others' concerns. At the beginning, the soldiers and the common people were still skeptical about the credit of the Dongmu ticket, and after a period of time, they began to take the initiative to exchange it for various items, and with the advent of winter, the food became more and more scarce, and the market of this piece of paper went all the way up, and it was even stronger than gold and silver in the area of the Yalu River and the Gongmen River. Even the Jurchens used Dongmu tickets that they got out of nowhere to exchange for grain, and Kim Chang-tae ordered that only the bills be recognized, and as long as the tickets were issued with grain as reserves, they would be exchanged for grain in full. The strength of the grain stamps indirectly supported the issuance of stamps with mink, ginseng, pearls, gold, timber, etc. as reserves, and later, Xia Guoying only needed a thick stack of Dongmu stamps to buy a tribe to do things for itself. It's just that the exchange ratio between grain stamps, golden stamps, wooden stamps, bead stamps, and participating stamps is still uncontrollable by the Xia State Camp, and it will take time to unify them into the kind of money stamps used in the Xia State.

It is one of the important authorities in the army to pay salaries, and officers take some oil and water from it, or give more money to their henchmen and cronies, and less to ordinary non-commissioned officers, and it is customary for the upper and lower levels. Directly by the quartermaster to the east wood ticket to the soldiers, the Han army officers have fewer opportunities to get on and off. After being silent for a moment, some people were still unconvinced: "The rules of salary in the army, why should Zhao De change it when he says it, I will only listen to the Shuai Mansion!" These words resonated with some disgruntled officers, many of whom muttered in a low voice: "That's it! "Why do you listen to the surname Zhao?" The tone was faintly disrespectful to Zhao Xingde and Xia Guoying.

"That's it!" Wang Tongdeng's eyes seemed to be on fire. Hearing only the sound of "pop", he threw a stack of Dongmu tickets on the table, "This is the ticket issued by General Zhao's first approval, naturally you have to follow his rules, which battalion head doesn't want to accept it, please leave here, and I won't send it far." ”

The north needed a capable cavalry to protect the garrison, and as a result, Zhao Xingde left him in Kaizhou. Therefore, Wang Tongdeng did not take advantage of the opportunity to fight in Liaoyang and Suzhou. This trip to resettle the soldiers and civilians of the Han army who went north needed to carry and distribute Dongmu tickets with a face value of tens of thousands of yuan, and it was necessary to have reliable people to do things, and Jin Changtai ordered his generals again. This bullshit thing on the stall makes Wang Tongdeng suffocate every day, and he has no good face for those messy guys.

The reckless Han army officer really ate this, Wang Tongdeng was furious, and suddenly no one objected loudly, only humming and chirping quietly. Wang Tongdeng glared at him, and said in a deep voice: "There is another sentence, if someone wants to disobey the rules and make a mess, I advise him not to go to the north." In other places, the sky is the largest. To the north, General Zhao's rules are bigger than the sky. He said coldly, "Unruly people, I guarantee that you will never survive this winter!" ”

The officers looked at each other, silent, and in the end, no one said anything more, and honestly asked the quartermaster sent by Wang Tongdeng to personally issue Dongmu tickets to the soldiers. But that night, someone found Wang Xuansu and cried again. Wang Xuansu reported to Han Ningshuang overnight.

"When a soldier eats food, whoever eats food will fight for whomever he eats." Wang Xuansu said with a worried face. If the Han army hadn't suffered repeated setbacks and had not had enough grain and grass, it would not have asked Xia Guoying to help supply grain and grass, but unexpectedly, Xia Guoying not only exchanged grain and grass for Dongmu tickets, but also sent officers to personally issue them to the soldiers. It has become a common practice in the army to falsely report that people eat empty salaries, and after this drama, Xia Guoying not only won the hearts of the army, but also knew more about the number and strength of each battalion than the Han army marshal's mansion.

Han Ningshuang's eyes condensed slightly, she was silent for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "The commander of the army is not in charge of food and salary, it is indeed a custom of the Xia Dynasty. The military supplies above the summer state camp were transported by the baggage division, and the food and salary below the battalion were controlled by the marching Sima. The lieutenant was highly respected in the battalion, but he was still subject to the military government, and the sergeants did not consider themselves someone's private soldiers. This is the way to long-term peace and stability. In the future, we will do the same, lest the soldiers only know that there are generals, but not that there are marshals. She paused and sighed, "Although there is a system that can be imitated, but it can be eclectic and used in this corner of Liaodong, General Zhao and Jin Sima are indeed rare talents." ”

Her emotion was not purely due to the salary, but to the many arrangements of Xia Guoying in Liaodong.

Wang Xuansu nodded, he repeatedly unfolded a Dongmu ticket, and muttered: "The last general is worried, Xia Guoying took this opportunity to gather the hearts of the army and set up the Shuaifu. ”

"Since the fall of the Bohai Kingdom, there are only some fishing and hunting barbarians in the north, and it was originally a borderless land," Han Ningshuang said slowly, "General Zhao saw the opportunity, put down the chess pieces there one step earlier, and took the lead." They have the continuous support of the Xia Kingdom, and the situation of the host and guest in the north is extremely difficult to reverse. And General Zhao's original intention was not to divide the power of our Han army. ”

At this, her eyes darkened slightly. If Zhao Xingde wants to master the Han army, there is a simplest and most direct way, but this person is not even willing to do this, let alone deliberately empty himself. Maintaining a reliable ally in Liaodong is the original intention of the Protectorate. Maintaining a force that is completely subordinate to the Xia Kingdom will cost far more than maintaining a local ally. And thousands of miles away, the commander of the army is difficult to control, and he is no different from his allies. It is not in the interests of the Xia State to take over the military and civilians of Liaodong and assume full responsibility. She can be sure of the big picture, and naturally she will not worry about the details.

The night was dark, and the people who were carrying hope by the bonfire finally fell asleep one by one, until the sky was light, and the sea ships anchored in the harbor carried the Han army to various islands, and even to the northern lands that the Liao army's iron cavalry had not yet set foot on. The people who arrived early had already formed a camp that was beginning to take shape. Although you can't grow crops in winter, it's a good season for logging. Dongmuxing prioritizes cutting down trees that grow on fertile flat land, and when the land thaws in the spring, the cleared woodland can be planted with the first crop of grain. Freshly cut down trees, cut down unnecessary branches to make firewood, huge timber can be put on a sleigh skateboard, and pulled along the ice road all the way to the riverside storage yard, in the harsh winter, the natural majesty of God has become the biggest helper. Just wait for the river to thaw after the beginning of spring, and then release the discharge down the river. Some of the best timber was pulled directly to the shipyard on Yueyang Island, and more were transported to the south smoothly.

Many of the lumberjacks and garrison soldiers had moved from the south, and most of them preferred this trade, which was quicker than farming. Throughout the winter, the camp was full of sweaty scenes, and in the quiet mountains and forests, the horns of the big trees sounded from time to time. The Han soldiers, who had just come ashore, were quickly infected by this hopeful atmosphere.

A vendor in a dogskin hat enthusiastically pulled a Han soldier and asked mysteriously, "Big brother, do you have any Dongmu tickets?" How about exchanging a tael of silver for twenty paper tickets? I think you have a good face to let you take advantage of this. ”

"Don't change, don't change," Nie Chou Nu subconsciously covered the bag, and after walking a few steps like a thief, he turned around and waited for the man fiercely, and muttered in a low voice: "Your mother, when I am stupid!" ”