In mid-June, the weather in Huaidong was already hot.

Although the cavalry of the Liang army had withdrawn from Huaidong three months ago, Wang Wenqian rushed to Chuzhou by car, and Yin Peng, who was traveling on horseback, looked at both sides of the gallop road under the escort of more than 100 cavalry, and could still see the traces left by the war.

After a large number of houses and farms were destroyed, the displaced people who had no way to live in peace were stranded between the lakes on both sides, relying on fish, shrimp, crab snails, barely surviving, and there were also signs of the spread of the water plague.

Although Wang Wenqian understood the relationship between raw crab snails and water plague after reading Han Daoxun's "Epidemic Water Sparseness", the problem state and county did not have the ability to resettle and provide relief to so many hungry people

Without state and county relief, these hungry people are on the verge of life and death, and it is difficult to force them to collect fuelwood, light fires to boil water, and cook fish and crabs before eating.

Although three months have passed since the war in Huaidong, after Emperor Zhu Yu of Liang dismantled the Lou Boat Army into the left and right Lou Boat Army, the Right Lou Boat Army took Haizhou as its station, frequently entered and exited the Huai River, attacked the south bank, and the small-scale water war did not stop for nearly three months.

Although Emperor Zhu Yuye of Liang had returned to Bianjing with 40,000 elite cavalry as early as two months ago, leaving only Han Yuanqi with 60,000 horse infantry to defend the three prefectures of Xu, Si and Hai on the north bank of the middle and lower reaches of the Huai River.

The Huaidong soldiers and horses did not suffer much damage, and the total casualties were three or four thousand, which was negligible compared to the Huaidong army, which had 120,000 soldiers and horses.

However, in this battle, the entire territory of Sizhou and Haizhou north of the Huai River fell into the hands of the enemy.

In addition to most of the people in Sizhou and Haizhou who did not have time to retreat south from the north bank, during the Liang enemy's large-scale attack on the south bank, there were nearly 100,000 people and tens of thousands of cattle on the south bank, which were plundered by the Liang army to Haizhou and Sizhou, and tens of thousands of people were killed and wounded.

What was even more tragic was that the production of the entire territory of Chuzhou and the northern parts of Yangzhou and Taizhou was severely hit, and 300,000 or 400,000 houses were set on fire, causing a large number of people to flee the war and pour into Yangzhou and Taizhou to become displaced people.

Even if we do not provide additional money and grain to provide relief to these scattered refugees, after such a devastating blow to agricultural production, the summer grain collection in 17 counties in the three prefectures will drop to about 23 times the level of previous years.

It can be said that it is even worse!

The large amount of grain that Huaidong plundered from the Jiangdong Prefectures during the Jinling Incident was also about to be exhausted at this time, especially the reclamation system around Chuzhou was devastated, and the current expenditure for maintaining the current situation was already seriously insufficient.

However, if the navy is not strengthened, and if it does not fight for control of the water network in the lower reaches of the Huai River, the situation in Huaidong will become worse in the future.

Stretched thin, there is simply not much money and food to help the displaced refugees, let alone help them return to their homes and rebuild their houses.

Of course, there are historical reasons for Huaidong's huge military expenditure.

Early at the beginning, King Xin took over the soldiers and horses of Chuzhou from Li Yu, with only 30,000 elites.

For the reason of convenient control, this part of the soldiers and horses was not directly incorporated into the forbidden army system, that is, the families of these elite generals were not sent to the cantonment military offices in Runzhou and Gyeonggi for resettlement, but they all stayed in Chuzhou, built cantonment villages on both sides of the Huai River, and reclaimed fields.

The treatment of the generals of Chuzhou is better than that of the forbidden army, in addition to the lack of military salaries, the clothing, armor, armament and horse animal power are all responsible for the expenditure of the army, making the expenditure of the 30,000 elites of the Chuzhou army a lot higher than that of the forbidden army of the same size.

However, in the early years, with the efforts of Han Daoxun when he was the secretary in charge of the Chuzhou Defense Mission, the Chuzhou Army built a relatively complete reclamation system on both sides of the Huai River, especially in the area on the east bank of Fanliang Lake in the south of Chuzhou, and the Defense Mission almost had nearly one million acres of military reclamation fields.

In previous years, this reclamation system alone could provide more than 400,000 stone grains and grains every year, totaling more than 200,000 yuan.

Coupled with the money and food allocated by the center, Yang Yuanyan, the king of letters, was able to raise an elite team of 30,000 people in Chuzhou, which was more than enough.

In the event of a large-scale war, the imperial court would also recruit troops and horses from Yangtairun Suzhou Prefecture to rush to the Huai River for reinforcements, and the Huaidong region has been able to maintain stability for a long time.

Before and after the Jinling Incident, the Chuzhou army rapidly expanded to 120,000 soldiers and horses, and the scale of men and horses expanded by four times, but military spending was not simply a fourfold surge.

In the old reclamation system, more land could not be given to the new generals, so they needed to pay these soldiers to support their families; In order to encompass the previous generals, this also had to be paid at the same time, so that the Huaidong Army's implementation in the later period was actually equivalent to a quasi-conscription system, and the Huaidong Army added 780,000 yuan a year to the cost of the military salary alone.

The other new additions add up to 1.45 million yuan a year.

Even if it is subject to the feudal state of Huai and the new territory of Taiyang and Yangzhou, the land tax that can be collected is far from making up for the shortfall.

It is also thanks to the fact that during the Jinling Incident, the plundering of Jiangdong gained a lot, and barely supported it for two years.

It is a pity that when Huaidong planned to expand the scale of reclamation on both sides of the Huai River and turn half of the soldiers into tunding, it suffered such a heavy blow......

The reclamation system under the original jurisdiction of the Chuzhou Army was mainly built in the territory of Chuzhou.

Although when the war broke out, the generals basically withdrew to the fortified fortresses in time to protect them, and there was no great loss, but hundreds of large and small villages, hundreds of houses and fields were not only set on fire, making a large number of generals homeless, but also a large number of ditches and embankments were also destroyed, and this loss was great.

There are many indications that the Liang army was purposeful and planned to destroy the farming system in Huai'an, especially the reclamation system in Chuzhou.

This blow was not small for the Huaidong Army.

The gap in the embankment that was opened did not look big at first, but in March and April after the war, there was chaos in Huaidong, and there was no concern about organizing people to repair these embankments.

In April and May, the Jianghuai River rained more than in previous years, and the Huai River flooded, and Hongzepu was overflowing.

In the downstream areas east of Fanliang Lake and Hongzepu, the old river embankments and dams could not function and could not be repaired in time, and they continued to collapse and expand under the impact of the heavy water.

At this time, the northern part of Yangzhou, the entire territory of Chuzhou and even the western part of Taizhou were all flooded.

King Xin could ignore the civilians who had been uprooted from their homes due to the persecution of war and floods, but the more than 200,000 generals and dependents in the vicinity of Chuzhou could not ignore them.

You must know that the 30,000 generals involved in these dependents are the descendants of Yang Yuanyan, the king of letters, who have followed him for many years, and are the foundation of Yang Yuanyan, the king of letters, to rule Huaidong.

However, just the cost of relocating this part of the family is amazing.

At the same time, in order to prevent the reclamation system of Chuzhou from being hit again, the naval army must also be strengthened immediately to resist the attack and harassment of the naval army on the north bank.

Thinking of this, Wang Wenqian's mind was also a mess, thinking that it was better to learn from the Tangyi soldiers, so that the Huaidong army would go out of the city, go out to fight with the Liang army, and block the Liang army north of the Huai River at all costs, and the situation would not be as ugly as it is now.

Wang Wenqian didn't believe that Emperor Zhu Yu of Liang killed his father and usurped the throne, and his foundation was not stable, so he really dared to lose more than 30,000 descendants in Huaidong.

It's just that it's too late to say this now, this time in Chuzhou, no matter what, he should persuade King Xin to put down his posture and talk about his brotherhood with the one in Jinling City.

…………

…………

The cavalry of the Liang army crossed the Huai River, and the attack that lasted for two months was far away from the city of Chuzhou, which was defended by strong soldiers, and the city of Chuzhou was still so majestic and upright, but the city was full of turbid water depressions, as if it was connected with Hongze in the west and the Huai River in the north to form a lake in the sky.

Wang Wenqian stood on the car, looking at the scattered village houses in the water, as if isolated islands stood in the ocean, and secretly felt that the disaster in Chuzhou in the past month was more serious than he expected, and he didn't know how Ruan Yan and these people did it, and after the war, they neglected to repair the embankment on the east bank of Hongze East.

Of course, Wang Wenqian also knew that he was in Yangzhou, and he didn't have a particularly deep empathy, and his reproach against Ruan Yan and others might be harsh.

Maybe Liang General Han Yuanqi used the navy to constantly attack the south bank in the future, and he has been deliberately doing everything possible to obstruct the people here to repair the river embankment, and even intentionally aggravated the destruction of the embankment on the west bank of Hongzepu?

"Princely ......"

Seeing Ruan Yan staying in front of the city gate with several guards, it seemed that he had made a special trip

Go out of the city to meet him.

Wang Wenqian hurriedly dismounted and got out of the car with Yin Peng, walked towards the city gate, and greeted Ruan Yan.

After greeting for a while, Wang Wenqian invited Yuan Yan to board his carriage and rushed to the palace together.

"Before Li Chong committed suicide in Shuzhou, he said that Han Qian, the Marquis of Qianyang, knew that Wen Ruilin was a matter of Liang Jian, according to what the prince saw, is it true?" After Ruan Yan got into the car, he asked.

To tell the truth, when the news of the destruction of the main force of the Navy Division in Hongzepu reached Yangzhou, Wang Wenqian expected this, but at that time, the destruction of the main force of the Navy Division had become a fact, and this matter became a trivial matter, and he did not want to make any extraneous branches, so he did not mention it to the public.

Li Chong died in the Beacon Hill camp of the Huaixi Forbidden Army in early February, and although there is no mention of Li Chong's suicide after Li Chong surrendered to the enemy in order to slander the Marquis of Qianyang and his suicide after being discovered by Yang En, the Marquis of Liyang, although there is not a single word mentioned in the newspapers copied to various places, Huaidong knows the details.

Wang Wenqian glanced at Ruan Yan suspiciously, I don't know if Ruan Yan has any other intention in mentioning this issue again after so many days?

Of course, Wang Wenqian would not mention to Ruan Yan that when Cheng Zheng Chang went to Yangzhou to deliver the edict in the original imperial history, Jun'er deliberately asked about many details of the imperial court's decision-making, and he also concluded from this point afterwards that Han Qian should have known Wen Ruilin's identity a long time ago, but Ruan Yan's question, he would not avoid it, and said:

"What Li Chong said should be true, but it's a pity that he shouldn't have chosen to say it at that time."

"When the imperial court sailors attacked Hongzepu, Han Qian was on the east bank of Fanliang Lake, what a ruthless heart." Ruan Yan said with emotion again.

Wang Wenqian smiled in agreement, he just hoped that Ruan Yan and King Xin could understand that at this time, Huaidong also needed to maintain cooperation with Tangyi while guarding against Qianyang Hou Han Qian, otherwise the situation would be even more difficult.

"The Tangyi soldiers and the Shouzhou army fought several bloody battles along the Chuhe River and Fucha Mountain, and only then did they lay down the depth of defense on the north bank today, and Qianyang went to the imperial court, and said that the Tangyi soldiers suffered more than 14,000 casualties in the battle - did the prince think that the excerpt of the Marquis of Qianyang was exaggerated?" Ruan Yan asked again.

Wang Wenqian was really strange in his heart, thinking that the Privy Council had made a decision on the merits of the Tangyi soldiers in all battles, and it had been decided two months ago, and King Xin didn't question anything at that time, why did Ruan Yan ask this question again at this time?

Wang Wenqian said patiently:

"To this day, the Shouzhou army does not have the strength to launch a decent offensive on the southern front, but concentrates on the southeast of the Wujian Mountains and the southeast of Chuzhou, and builds fortresses and camps in Shiliang County, and takes a defensive position. However, even if we all know that Han Qian had gathered a part of the old Zuoguang German army on the west bank of Fanliang Lake before, but if the Shouzhou army was greatly injured, it would inevitably have to pay a heavy price, after all, the Shouzhou army did not make any mistakes, and in this case, if it wants to win, it can only be called to the generals to fight with their lives and blood - this is consistent with Yangzhou's observation of the war on the western front of Tangyi. ”

"The Marquis of Qianyang made the elite of the descendants fight in Tangyi at the cost of casualties to defend the gate for the imperial court, and the rumors spread by the princes of the imperial court to Li Chong should not be believed to be true, right? After all, they didn't know that when the sailor went north, Han Qian was actually watching from the left and right. Ruan Yan asked.

"This is not necessarily, Li Chong's surrender to the enemy was recognized by Yang En, the Marquis of Liyang, but Yang En has had no contact with Tangyi in the past few months; After Yang Zhitang of Shouzhou returned to Jinling after meeting the Marquis of Qianyang from Tangyi, he wrote to ask for the transfer of the Right Dragon Martial Army to Runzhou, and as an expedient measure, he also wrote to request a new naval army under the banner of the Right Dragon Martial Army, so as to better coordinate and prevent the Liang Army's naval division from attacking and harassing the coast. It is clear that Yang Zhitang, the king of Shou, had a tacit understanding with the Marquis of Qianyang, but Shen Yang firmly advocated an independent reconstruction, and the naval division was responsible for the defense of Gyeonggi and the east along the river and near the sea. From these two points, it can be seen that Yang En and Shen Yang should not be completely indifferent to the rumors spread by Li Chong. Wang Wenqian said.

Speaking of this, Wang Wenqian couldn't help but ask: "Coming to Chuzhou today, Duke Ruan seems to be particularly interested in the Marquis of Qianyang?" ”

"Yes," Ruan Yan said, "Two days ago, I heard someone say that the Marquis of Qianyang had completed his mourning period and had not been married so far, so I couldn't help but want to know more about the old affairs of the Marquis of Qianyang......

When the mourning period of filial piety is 27 months, counting the time when Han Daoxun was tortured and died, Han Qian can be regarded as having completed the mourning period and can talk about marriage.

Just listening to Ruan Yan say this, Wang Wenqian was stunned for a long time, and he really didn't know how to answer, so it was appropriate......

(End of chapter)