Although the sergeants of the Pingxi Army were not good at fighting, most of them were good crop masters when it came to growing crops, after all, before they became homeless people, most of them were also farmers who farmed the land. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

As soon as the grain arrived, within a few days, the newly cultivated land on the east bank of the Kuye River was sown.

The grain was sent by Fubi from Bingzhou, and there was a lot of grain and grass transported together.

Although for the reconstruction of Jingqiang Village, Zhong Hao needs to solve it on the spot in terms of manpower and construction materials, and it is difficult for Fu Bi to give much support. However, for the supply of grain and grass for the Pingxi Army, Fu Bi was quite sufficient.

After all, the Pingxi Army has just tuntian this year, and there is no harvest, so they have to fill their stomachs. Without filling their stomachs, these hungry people don't have the heart to do anything else.

Zhong Hao's sweet potatoes and potatoes were also shipped from Bingzhou. Last year, Zhong Hao entrusted the Zheng family of Qingzhou to transport these potatoes and sweet potatoes to Bingzhou. In fact, Zhong Hao and Cui Feng also came to Dezhou in the carriage of the Zheng family's carriage.

Qingzhou Zheng's carriage and horse shop is the largest carriage and horse shop in Qingzhou, and it is also one of the largest carriage and horse shops in the north of the Great Song Dynasty. The cart of Zheng's carriage and horse is sturdy and steady, easy to travel far away, there are two kinds of special cargo and people, and its semicolon is all over the northern roads such as Jingdong, Jingxi, Hebei, Hedong and so on. The carts of the Cheng Carriage and Horse Shop can be repaired, maintained or transferred in a semicolon, which is very convenient.

Cui Feng and the others originally wanted to ride a horse to join the state, but although Zhong Hao's equestrian skills have improved after a period of practice, they are just riding a Taiping horse, and they can travel well, if they travel a long distance, I am afraid they will not be able to bear it. There are more than 1,200 miles from Qingzhou to Bingzhou, and Zhong Hao is very daunting.

Besides, feeding the horses along the way is also cumbersome and too expensive. Although Zhong Hao has an official status, he can eat and live in the post station, and the horses can also be fed. But Zhong Hao's post station survey brand is only a "small survey", that is, only he himself can eat and live for free. Cui Feng and the three of them are naturally not eligible to enjoy the services of the post station.

So for the sake of convenience, Zhong Hao and Cui Feng simply took the carriage of the Zheng family to Bingzhou together. This kind of carriage and horse-drawn carriage, where to rest every day along the way, how many roads a day, there are arrangements, just bring money to get in the car, and you don't have to worry about miscellaneous things along the way.

In fact, in the Great Song Dynasty, people traveled long distances, and most of them took carriages and horses.

Although many wealthy families had their own carriages, their chariots were generally only used in the city, or to nearby places, and few ran long distances. Because running long distances is too damaging to the car, and it is not practical. Therefore, even if there are wealthy families with cars, if they travel long distances, most of them will drive by cars and horses.

Because even if the rich family is not afraid of damage and is willing to use their own car to drive a long distance, it is also a problem if half of the road breaks down, and there is no store in front of the village or behind it. In addition, most of the cars of those rich and noble families are used for transportation in the city, which is comfortable and spacious, and is not suitable for long-distance travel.

As for traveling by yourself, whether it is riding a horse or a car, there is another trouble: when traveling long distances, not only is the road unfamiliar and troublesome to find the way, but also to prevent theft and bandits, which is far less worry-free than taking a carriage with a carriage of carriages and horses.

After Zhong Haode's sweet potatoes and potatoes were transported to Bingzhou, Fu Bi specially arranged to build a large cellar for storage.

A few days ago, Zhong Hao specially arranged for Hou Quan and Wang San to transport potatoes and sweet potatoes for sowing.

Zhong Hao harvested six or seven hundred catties of potatoes and sweet potatoes last year, and if the planting is sparse, it is estimated that it can produce more than ten acres of seeds. Zhong Hao is ready to let him breed as soon as possible, and strive to give full play to their big role in a few years.

However, Fubi left a small number of sweet potato and potato seeds to be bred and promoted in Bingzhou. Of course, there is also the meaning of just in case, the Pingxi army has no combat effectiveness for the time being, in case the Xia army comes to harass and plunder, and destroys the sweet potatoes and potatoes on the banks of the Guye River, and the sweet potatoes and potatoes left in the state can still leave hope.

Zhong Hao asked people to choose a good field close to the barracks and plant the sweet potatoes and potatoes that were transported to make it easier to take care of.

Hou Quan also brought a letter from Fu Ruozhu.

Last winter, during the months when Zhong Hao was in Bingzhou and Fu Bi learned about Hedong's military and political affairs, the two could often meet. After the beginning of spring, I haven't seen her for more than a month on the bank of the Guye River, and Zhong Hao really misses her very much.

Back in his barracks, Zhong Hao took out the red flower note in the envelope, and saw that Fu Ruozhu's letter was full of friendship and deep longing, and his heart couldn't help but feel warm.

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After the spring planting was over, Zhong Hao began to prepare for the rebuilding of Jingqiang Village.

Zhong Hao and Cui Feng selected this soil slope not far from the north of Tiantai Mountain, where Jingqiang Village was built, with a radius of 600 steps. Backed by Tiantai Mountain, it controls the Guye River in the west, and is also close to the Yellow River in the east. Since the terrain is as big as six hundred steps, Zhong Hao naturally wants to make the most of it.

The back of this place is close to the water, which is a good place to build a village, and it is very conducive to guarding against the Xia army.

If the Xia army drove from the west, it would be blocked by the Guye River, and most of them would be cavalry, and it would take a lot of trouble to cross the river. And if you come from the north, there is Linzhou City in front of you, and you can also buy some buffer time for your village.

And Zhong Hao built a village here, there is another important reason: the east side of this place is very close to the Hehejin ferry. This Hehejin ferry port is the only ferry port between Linzhou outside the river and Lanzhou on the east side of the Yellow River. Once there is a war in Linzhou, the rear supplies will all rely on transportation from here to provide logistical support.

Zhong Hao thought in his heart: to build a village here, close to the Dehejin ferry, in case the situation is not good, he can withdraw to the east of the Yellow River at the first time.

The stone unloading shed in Qingzhou was built under the command of Cui Feng, and he is quite experienced in building the fortress. Zhong Hao referred to Cui Feng's guidance and designed a sketch of Jingqiang Village, the wall of the village is 100 steps on Saturday, one zhang high and two zhang thick. At the same time, Zhong Hao felt that this place was close to Tiantai Mountain, and it was convenient to quarry, so the wall could be wrapped with bluestone and rammed earth. This is much stronger than a simple rammed earth wall.

The Pingxi Army belonged to the service army, and it was familiar with building forts. It is estimated that there are few Xiang troops in the northwest that have not participated in the construction of forts. Zhong Hao showed the designed sketch to Zheng Wentao, the capital of the Pingxi Army, and wanted to listen to his opinion first, after all, he had been in the Xiangjun for a long time, and his experience in building a village should be much richer than his own.

After Zheng Wentao saw Zhong Hao's design, his face was a little bitter, and he said: "The battle village designed by Zhong Jiyi is definitely sturdy and very reasonable, and there is no problem in itself. But this battle village is repaired like this, the cost is very huge, with our Pingxi Army's manpower, I am afraid that it will take at least three or four years to repair. ”

"Three or four years?" Zhong Hao really didn't know much about the level of architecture in this era. In the future, dozens of people will be able to build a building with more than 20 floors in two or three months. At this time, to build such a 600-step, one-zhang high battle village, more than 1,000 people had to work for several years, Zhong Hao couldn't help but be a little surprised.

Zheng Wentao arched his hand towards Zhong Hao and said, "The lower officials don't dare to say anything. In the past three or four years, it is still necessary to do it when the construction materials are sufficient. ”

Zhong Hao's later cognition of architecture is actually under the premise of machinery everywhere. In later generations, there were excavators for building trenches, tankers and pump trucks for pouring concrete, and tower cranes for hoisting things, which could naturally save countless manpower.

After Zheng Wentao's analysis and explanation, Zhong Hao roughly understood the level of construction labor at this time.

Zhong Hao had no choice but to reduce the height and thickness of the wall, and initially set a height of one zhang and a thickness of four feet, and built it with rammed earth.

However, according to Cui Feng, a city wall like this four feet thick and one zhang high is estimated to not be able to carry it a few times when encountering a large stone thrower. The main reason is that the proportions are not harmonious, and the walls of this era are generally thicker than they are high. But this can't be helped, no matter how short it is, when the Xia army comes to attack, two people can climb up by taking a ladder. The thickness can't be added, this four feet thick, according to Zheng Wentao's estimate, with the manpower of the Pingxi Army, it will take nearly a year to complete.

The height must be about the same, otherwise Xia Jun can easily climb the wall, then it will not work. As for the problem of insufficient thickness, we can only wait for the manpower and materials to be abundant in the future, and then slowly thicken and thicken.

After all, most of the Xia troops were cavalry, and they usually came to plunder, and rarely deliberately attacked strong fortresses. Besides, when the Xia army comes out to loot, it will not carry a large stone throwing machine.

After the plan was decided, Zhong Hao asked Zheng Wentao to command the Pingxi Army to start construction, sooner rather than later.

The left battalion was responsible for the construction of lime kilns, burning lime. The right battalion is responsible for washing river sand and making stone rammers and stone grinders, while the remaining three battalions are responsible for excavating trenches.

Limestone and river sand are all Sanhe soil is necessary, although Zhong Hao wants to ram earth for the wall, but he can't be sloppy, he must all use Sanhe soil to build a good wall.

The place where Jingqiang Village was built is next to the mountain and by the river, and this lime and river sand are easy to obtain.

However, the Pingxi Army is actually only more than 1,200 people now, and there are 2,000 women and children. According to Zheng Wentao's estimate, it will take a year to repair the 600-step battle village. If you stop doing it, it won't be repaired until this time next year.

In this year's time, only the wall was built, and buildings such as barracks, warehouses and yamen of Zhizhai were also needed in the battle wall, which required a lot of manpower and time.

Also, it is impossible to build walls and barracks in winter, it must be built before winter comes, and the Xia army is fine in winter, but there is a habit of harassing and plundering the borderlands.

If you want to build it before winter, you have to increase the number of people.

Zhong Hao planned to go to Yincheng County to see if he could recruit some people. Linzhou is located on the border, it is rare to be stable, and most of the people are poor, so it is estimated that it would be good to have enough to eat. My own grain and grass are quite abundant, and I can still afford to manage my food.

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Yincheng County is not too far from Tiantai Mountain, and it is about fifty or sixty miles up the Guye River.

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Yincheng County, like the fortress in the northwest, is a strategic stronghold with military significance. Yincheng County was built on a small hill on the bank of the Kuye River.

Although Yincheng County is a county seat, it is actually not big, and it is also upgraded from a fortress. Yincheng County used to be called Yincheng Walled, but later because of the important terrain and the increase in population, it was promoted to the county seat. The fortresses and cities in the northwest are all with the rise and fall of strategic locations, the increase and decrease of troops, and the number of populations, and their specifications and status are also often raised and lowered.

After Zhong Hao took Cui Feng, Wang San, and Hou Quan into the city, he walked around the city, and he didn't have much hope for recruiting people from Yincheng County.

The entire Yincheng County is very dilapidated, there are few decent houses, and the population is depressed, except for the soldiers on the road, there are not a few people walking.

But since they came, the local parents still have to visit.

Zhong Hao and Cui Feng came to the yamen of Yincheng County, and Hou Quan stepped forward to throw Zhong Hao's prayer post.

Soon, a servant invited Zhong Hao in.

As soon as he entered the second hall of Yincheng County, Cheng Zicai, the magistrate of Yincheng, greeted him.

"Zhong Ji should come from afar, this county has lost its welcome, forgive your sins!" Civil officials love to talk about rules and etiquette. Yincheng County is a lower county, and the grade of the county magistrate of the lower county is only from the eighth grade, which is the same as Zhong Hao's undertaker level, so he feels that it is a loss of identity to go out to greet him, but Zhong Hao also has the closeness of appeasing the adult, Cheng Zicai felt that it was inappropriate not to greet him, so he greeted him at the gate of the second hall.

Zhong Hao didn't care about these rules, and he didn't understand them at all. Cheng Zhixian thought he was decent, but in fact, Zhong Hao didn't know anything at all, and he wasted all his efforts. Zhong Hao just said politely: "Cheng Daling is polite, the younger brother took the liberty to visit, and he still looked at Haihan!" ”

Cheng Zhixian led Zhong Hao to his signing room and sat down, and the elder served tea. The northwest is bitterly cold, and the officials here are not so meticulous and exquisite, and the chief of Cheng Zhi County came up with loose tea brewed with boiling water.

However, this tea is in line with Zhong Hao's taste, and Zhong Hao just doesn't like the kind of sencha and tea that literati often drink. Zhong Hao rode a horse to Yincheng County early in the morning and galloped for more than 50 miles, but he was really a little dry-mouthed. Zhong Hao's riding skills are much better now than when he was in Qingzhou, but there is still a big gap compared to Cui Feng and their old knights. Riding a horse and galloping for more than fifty miles, Cui Feng and they didn't feel anything, but Zhong Hao was tired enough. At that moment, Zhong Hao was not polite, and drank the tea cup with his hand.

Originally, Cheng Zicai thought that Zhong Hao was young and ambitious, and he had just come from the bustling mainland, so he was afraid that he would come to Hexi to gild, and maybe he would dislike the poor tea. At this time, seeing Zhong Hao drinking tea without hesitation, he couldn't help but feel much better about him, and felt that Zhong Hao was at least not a person who was greedy for enjoyment, but should be able to do something solidly.

Cheng Zicai didn't know Zhong Hao's intention, so after a while, he and Zhong Hao had an official tone and a few idle words, and then asked Zhong Hao's intention: "I don't know if Zhong Ji should come to our county today, what are you doing?" ”

Zhong Hao said with a smile: "The junior brother is now leading the Pingxi Army in Tuntian on the bank of the Guye River near Tiantai Mountain, counting the people under the jurisdiction of Cheng Daling, and today I am here to visit my local parents!" ”

Cheng Zicai smiled and said, "Zhong Jiyi is too polite. Shuai Si's writing, the county has already received it, Zhong Jiyi is now in charge of the affairs of the cave Yehe Tuntian, this dispatch is directly responsible for Shuai Si, hehe, this county can not be regarded as the parent official of the Pingxi Army, Zhong Jiyi is really too elevated to this county! (To be continued.) )