Chapter 150: Before Entering Wujiang

"In today's battle, General Cheng has made a great achievement, and the Duke of China will hand over the back road to General Cheng." Zhang Xuan said.

Cheng Jikong said: "This is all the prestige of the general. In the end, the general will not dare to take credit. ”

"Merit is merit, and passing is passing." Zhang Xuan said: "How can I be a person who has no merit or fault. Zhang Xuan immediately ordered the left and right to take 10,000 taels of silver and reward Cheng Jikong.

Cheng Jikong was overjoyed.

He rejoiced more than ten thousand taels of silver.

Although there are a lot of 10,000 tons of silver, Cheng Jikong also did a period of trading without capital in Xuzhou at the beginning, and he also had tens of thousands of taels of family property in his hands. What's more, Zhang Xuan has always distributed the silver rewarded above to the generals under his command. He set an example, no matter how much he loved money, he would not keep all these bounties in his hands, and he really kept them in his hands only about three or four thousand taels.

than this silver. What he values more is what Zhang Xuan values him.

As long as he is valued by Zhang Xuan, he will be on the rise. I'm afraid I don't have any money.

After Zhang Xuan rewarded Cheng Jikong, he let Cheng Jikong stay in Pingshi Town and concentrate on preparing the raft. It doesn't matter if it's a bamboo raft or a wooden raft.

Between Wujiang and Shaozhou, there are no other obstacles. Some are just the dangers of the Wujiang River.

Zhang Xuan then asked Fu Shangrui and said, "Mr. Fu, how are the bamboo rafts prepared?" ”

When he was in Changsha, Fu Shangrui showed a positive move towards Daxia, and Zhang Xuan couldn't help but express it. Therefore, when Yao Qisheng was going to sit in Changsha. Fu Shangrui was recruited by Zhang Xuan to accompany the army and was in charge of logistics.

There are many civilian officials in Zhang Xuan's army who manage logistics affairs for him, but many times the logistics in Zhang Xuan's army does not rely on these officials, but on professional logistics officers.

Among these officers, they may not be able to take charge alone, but they are already the backbone logistics personnel in Zhang Xuan's hands, as long as the people from above are not extremely bad, there is no problem.

Although Fu Shangrui is now above the horse, he has strengths. But the ability is still said in the past, otherwise it would not be valued by Tengjiao.

Fu Shangrui said: "More than 10,000 bamboo rafts have been prepared. ”

The preparation of the bamboo raft did not start today, but yesterday when Zhang Xuan went to the bottom of Jinji Ridge. I've already started to prepare.

Bamboo is not a rare plant in the south. Weaving a bamboo raft is not too difficult, and tens of thousands of people work together. It's not too hard.

However, Zhang Xuan did not think that these bamboo rafts alone could replace the boats and transport the army out of the dangerous shoals and rapids for more than 100 miles.

Zhang Xuan said: "Qin Meng, how is the exploration of the more than 100 miles of the Wujiang River? ”

Zhang Xuan took special care of Qin Meng and always sent him to do something that was easy to make meritorious contributions. For example, this time to explore the Wujiang River. This matter is very important, and it is the key to a southern expedition to Guangzhou.

But it's not very difficult, as long as you do it carefully, you will definitely have a credit. At that time, Qin Meng's official position was promoted again.

Qin Meng also lived up to Zhang Xuan's expectations, and in the past few days, he traveled back and forth on the Wujiang River several times. A detailed investigation of the hydrology of the Wujiang River.

At this moment, Zhang Xuan asked, and Qin Meng immediately said: "My lord, during the period from late spring to late summer every year, Wujiang has a lot of rain, and there are floods from time to time, and sometimes it will spread to the beginning of autumn. However, looking at this year's annual scene, it has not rained for more than ten days, and the water level of the Wujiang River has decreased significantly. A large stretch of river beach was leaked. ”

"The characteristics of the Wujiang River are the rapids and shallows, the cliffs and strange rocks. The boat goes down the river, but it can reach Lechang County in one day, and after Lechang County is Shaozhou. After arriving at Shaozhou Mansion, the waterway was unblocked. It will take a few days to reach the city of Guangzhou. ”

"However, the Ming army has collected all the ships, and there is not a single ship from the upper reaches of the Wujiang River to Lechang County. It is too dangerous to get from Pingshi to Lechang with these bamboo rafts alone. ”

"From Pingshi to Lechang, this section of the Wujiang River, there is a name, known as Jiulong Eighteen Beaches, although it has been repaired, but the ship often capsizes. The Tang and Song dynasties may be used more, but in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the east city moved eastward, and went out of Guangzhou to take the Dayu Road. The Wujiang waterway is also in a semi-abandoned state. ”

"The waterways can't be said to be completely impassable, but they are not very safe. The subordinates surveyed the waterway of the Wujiang River, and the road has been discovered, from Pingshi to the Wujiang River, and the army can be reloaded in the Wujiang River, so that people can drag it with a fiber rope to prevent the water from falling into the rapids because the water flow is too fast. The soldiers mostly walked on the river banks of the river. There are many places where everyone is not difficult to pass, but they can send soldiers to clear the way first. ”

When Zhang Xuan heard this, he couldn't help but nod slightly.

Even though Zhang Xuan carried out many light loads, the baggage of the army was still the most difficult thing for the army to transport.

Putting the baggage of the army on the water and dragging it can be said to greatly reduce the burden of the march, and even if there are some difficult roads, it can go out at a fairly good speed.

Weight-bearing marching, as well as non-weight-bearing marching, are two different states of safety.

"The only place that makes my subordinates feel problematic is the camp." Qin Meng said with a sad look on his face: "Although there are some valley bottoms along the Wujiang River, there are still few places to accommodate the camp of the army. I am afraid that in the midst of the march, we will have to disperse and camp. ”

"That's acceptable." Zhang Xuan said: "I just want to know, according to your plan, how long will it take to get to Lechang County?" ”

Qin Meng said: "If it goes well, within three days, you can reach Lechang County." ”

It took three days to advance more than 100 miles, and it was only thirty or forty miles a day, which didn't seem like much, but it looked like what kind of road was taken. That's an impressive speed.

Zhang Xuan had a plan in his heart that after arriving in Shaozhou, he could call for ships on the ground. Although the Xia army did not have a sailor in the Pearl River Valley, the so-called sailors of the Ming army were mostly pirates at sea, and there were not many sailors in the inland rivers.

And as long as it's done right, make it faster than the message. Within ten days, there was no problem at all when we arrived at the city of Guangzhou.

This is completely in line with Zhang Xuan's plan. Zhang Xuan said, "Okay," and then asked the others, "There are no other questions, right?" ”

"I have a question?" Luo Dai said: "My troops are cavalry? What about the problem with the horse? ”

"This ------" Qin Meng didn't know what to say for a while.

It's still okay to transport some dead things on a bamboo raft. But it was a real problem to transport large numbers of horses. Horses are living creatures, and on the water, who knows if there will be problems with these horses.

Seeing this, Zhang Xuan also understood a little, and said, "This time, let General Luo be in the last hall." Wait until Lechang uses a boat to pick it up. ”

The movement of the army is not a one-time pass, especially when the road is difficult. Traveling in batches is an inevitable choice.

Luo Dai was a little resentful, he had always been a pioneer, but at this time he was put last. Although he was not very willing, he said helplessly: "Yes." ”

Zhang Xuan thought for a while and said, "My headquarters and Xu Dubu are the first batch. Deng He is the second batch, and Luo Dai is the third batch. After the first batch entered the banks of the Wujiang River, the rest of the people continued to make bamboo rafts, ready for trouble. ”

"Yes." Luo Dai and Deng He could only say.

Zhang Xuan said: "Mr. Fu, you also have to bring over all the people within a radius of a few miles who have had the experience of walking along the Wujiang River as guides. ”

Fu Shangrui said: "Yes." ”

Zhang Xuan said: "Let's go and prepare, early tomorrow morning, we will set off, starting tomorrow, to the city of Guangzhou, there will be no more rest." ”

"The last general will understand." Everyone said in unison.

Zhang Xuan sent them all away and asked Qin Meng, "What can be the problem in Wujiang?" ”

Qin Meng was shocked in his heart, and said secretly: "It was seen by the general." ”

"Yes." Qin Meng said: "There is one thing that I don't know whether to talk about or not. ”

"Speak." Zhang Xuan said. Zhang Xuan knew Qin Meng too well, and as soon as he saw Qin Meng's expression, he knew that he had something in his heart.

Qin Meng said: "Although the spring flood and summer flood in Wujiang are relatively large, the autumn flood has to be prevented, and it has been sunny for more than ten days. It would be best if it continued to shine, but there was a just in case,"

"Needless to say." Zhang Xuan said: "I know everything. Let him go down. ”

Qin Meng didn't dare to say any more, so he had to bow his head and say, "Yes." Then he slowly retreated, and he didn't know if Zhang Xuan really knew or faked.