As the choke point and final checkpoint of the entrance to the south of the Yangtze River, there were 200,000 troops stationed in the castle of Jiangkou Prefecture, plus craftsmen and civilians who did all kinds of chores and built military facilities, not to mention more than 300,000 people.

The imperial court gathered so many people for only one purpose, and that was to prevent the Hu people from invading Jiangnan on a large scale.

Although the Great Wei court had already made peace with the Great Emperor, all the princes of the court knew very well what the Hu people were, and a peace treaty could not restrain this group of jackals at all, so the defense of Jiangkou Mansion was not reduced by half a point because of the peace between the two countries.

Due to the large number of soldiers and civilians in the city, the consumption of grain, grass and materials was also correspondingly huge.

To support the entire Eguchi Prefecture, the imperial court is also under great pressure.

In order to save transportation costs, except for grain, grass and military supplies, which were allocated by the imperial court, the rest of the common materials including soldiers' clothes, bedding, pots and bowls were purchased from the local or surrounding areas.

And the procurement of these commonly used materials is also the largest source of oil and water for the officers stationed there, which is already a tacit secret.

In order to obtain oil and water from the procurement of supplies, the garrison generals usually joined forces with the quartermaster to purchase a large number of inferior but cheap products from some small local cheap workshops to make up the money.

This one in and one out, there is a lot of oil and water to fish.

Even if the things used by the soldiers are a little worse, they are just replaced more frequently, and they will not really affect the combat effectiveness of the soldiers, so almost every officer in power does this.

Although there are also officials in the army who regularly inspect materials, as long as it does not involve military materials such as weapons and armor, most of the officials in charge of inspection will not care too much, as long as the quantity is right and not too bad.

And usually even they are one of the officials who receive benefits, so naturally they will not make a public announcement.

Over time, this has become a common practice.

In the afternoon of that day, Quartermaster Chen Erqiao came to Du Chunlin, the commander of Jiangkou Prefecture, with a happy face, and reported: "My lord, there is a way to solve the matter of those quilts. ”

When Du Chunlin heard this, he hurriedly asked, "Is it true?" ”

"Yes, Xiaguan found a merchant from out of town, and he was willing to sell us a large number of quilts at the price that the adult said."

"Is that man really willing to sell us for this price? There won't be a problem with this batch of quilts, right? ”

"Please rest assured, the man told me the truth, he said that the reason why this batch of quilts are sold so cheaply is because the cotton used in them is old cotton that has been pressed in the warehouse for several years.

Although the taste will be stronger, it is still okay to keep warm.

Moreover, the merchant wants to do business with us for a long time in the future, so this time he would rather sell cheaper than have a relationship with us. ”

"If that's the case, then it's easy to do, you tell the man to hurry up and bring the quilts.

Mr. Zhang estimates that he will come over to check in half a month, and we must hurry up to handle this matter. ”

"Please rest assured, the lower officials will hurry up and do it."

Hearing that the matter was finally clear, the commander of Jiangkou Mansion finally relieved Du Chunlin a lot.

As it came to pass, as winter approached, Eguchi Prefecture needed to replenish a batch of bedding that had rotted out and could no longer be used to distribute it to the soldiers.

Although it is only to supplement the loss, there are tens of thousands of sheets.

The reason why it is so rotten is not that the soldiers don't cherish it, but that these quilts are too bad. As long as you pull it with a little force, it will crack, which shows the difference in quality.

In order to replenish the quilt to be replaced, Du Chunlin handed over the order for the purchase of bedding to a local businessman who was accustomed to cooperation, as he had done before.

The merchant knew what to do, and he would buy a large number of inferior bedding from all over the country to pay for the difference, and then return the difference to the commander after deducting his own profits.

In this way, both sides have made a difference, and each has benefited, which can be described as a great joy.

They have always done this, and they have formed a tacit understanding for a long time.

Everything was going well, but the merchant suddenly fell ill and died at home.

Due to the death of the cooperative supplier, Du Chunlin and others did not know where to find a replacement supplier for a while.

After all, tens of thousands of quilts are not a small number, and they are not something that ordinary small businessmen can eat.

What's even more of a headache is that soon after Mr. Zhang, who is in charge of inspecting the military supplies, will come over to inspect it. At that time, the number of quilts was not matched, and he would definitely not be able to escape punishment as a commander, so he was in a hurry.

Now that he heard that a new supplier has been found, and the other party is willing to accept the previous price, this of course makes Du Chunlin overjoyed.

Under the intensified operation of Quartermaster Chen Erqiao, those quilts that needed to be replenished were quickly transported to the warehouse of the military headquarters one after another.

Seeing that the matter was finally resolved, the commander made Du Chunlin very happy, and personally met with the businessman.

The middle-aged merchant had brought his son with him, but unlike the obese merchant, his son was noticeably thinner, and he didn't like to talk much, but only silently served behind his father.

Perhaps it was the first time he saw a big official like Du Chunlin, and the businessman looked very nervous, and even stammered a little when he spoke.

In the face of Du Chunlin's promotion, the businessman immediately promised with sincerity and trepidation that he would do his best to do things for several adults in the future.

Seeing that the other party was so good, Du Chunlin was very satisfied, and decided that he would replace the deceased merchant to supply the army in the future.

After the meeting between the two, the merchant soon left the military headquarters with his son.

It's just that as soon as the two of them got into the carriage, the middle-aged businessman who was originally the father knelt down in front of the "son" with a "plop", and then begged with a bitter face: "Good man, I have done everything according to your orders, please let my family go." Please, man. ”

The man disguised as his son said coldly: "We will release them in a few days, don't talk about it anymore." ”

The middle-aged merchant was afraid of angering him, so he got up and sat back in his chair in despair.

At the same time, his heart was beating fast, and he felt like his heart was pounding.

He knew that these unknown gangsters deliberately threatened him and the army by kidnapping his family, and they must have other plans.

It's just that he doesn't know what the purpose of these gangsters is for the time being, but it will definitely not be a good thing.

If something really happens in the future, those military masters will definitely settle accounts with him, after all, he is the person in charge on the surface.

At that time, he and his family will definitely be questioned by the government, and if it is a big matter, they may be beheaded by a raider.

But in order for his only son not to be harmed by these villains, he can only obey their orders.

If he did what they said, something might happen in the future, but if he didn't do what they said, he would definitely be killed immediately, and he had no choice.

He now prays to God and worships the Buddha, and only hopes that there is no real problem with those quilts, and even if there is a problem, don't blame him.

But the so-called good spirits do not have bad spirits.

Just when the middle-aged businessman was anxiously waiting for the gangsters to release him, a major incident suddenly happened in Eguchi Prefecture.

Suddenly, a large number of soldiers in the army developed symptoms such as high fever, headache, fatigue, and aching limbs and back.

A few days later, the sick soldiers had almost a rash on their forehead, cheeks, wrists, arms, torso, and lower limbs, and it quickly developed into pustules.

When the military doctor in Eguchi Prefecture saw these symptoms, his face suddenly changed drastically.

This, this is clearly the disease of sores!

What is even more shocking is that not only Jiangkou Prefecture, but even some remote provincial capitals in Jiangnan have successively appeared with sores and sores.