Chapter 42 The First Entry into the Prairie - To Youzhou

The economic and cultural center of Youzhou is in Jixian County, according to the record of "Yu Gong": the domain of Jizhou, Shun placed twelve herds, then one of them. "Spring and Autumn Yuan Life Package" also said: "Kei Xing is scattered into Youzhou and is divided into Yan Kingdom. "The north is too yin, so it is called the netherworld.

Specifically, the northern part of Hebei and Liaoning is Youzhou, such a traffic north and south and out of the center of the ethnic border, the military status is very prominent, the east is Goryeo, the Bohai Sea, the north is Turkic, the Qian. Emperor Yang built the Linshuo Palace in Zhuo County, and conquered Goryeo three times in the seventh year of the Great Cause, all based on Zhuo County, that is, Youzhou, to gather soldiers and horses, weapons, and grain reserves.

Youzhou is also a hub for land transportation at the northern end of the Hebei Plain. In the fourth year of the great cause, the Yongji Canal was opened, and the Yellow River was diverted to the Yellow River to build a canal.

Youzhou, not only the geographical location is very concise, the regional economic status is also very prominent, according to the Fangshan Yunju Temple Stone Scripture records, before the Anshi Rebellion, there are white rice rows, slaughter shops, oil shops, five ripe rows, fruit rows, pig iron rows, grinding rows, silk rows, etc., all kinds of things, it can be said that the economic beam of Northeast Asia at that time, Youzhou has to carry the general. The Song Dynasty has not been able to do anything to the northern ethnic minorities, and one of the major cruxes is that the sixteen states of Youyun were betrayed.

With Xu Qing's town road, the group did not receive the slightest obstruction and exploitation, not only that, but other local officials, Guan Pass guards, also took the initiative to give gifts to Xu Qing, hoping that he would "carry it".

In the distance, the dark earth was dewed, the straw was piled up one or two, the old trees were scattered on the roadside, and there were children and flower dogs chasing each other, Xu Qing's convoy walked along this official road, making the sound of squeaky wheels.

"Shimei, look, that's Youzhou!" Xu Qing stood on the hillside, with a whip and a pride.

"It's only been eleven days, it's so fast......" Huang Shimei wore a female armor, and she was also heroic.

"Quick? It will take another day to arrive in Qi County. Xu Qing smiled, he had enjoyed an hour and hundreds of kilometers, and he didn't know how to understand what Huang Shimei said.

Huang Shimei nodded and rode away with Xu Qing.

"The people stationed in Qi County seem to be Wei Guogong and General Li Jing, does Brother Xu know?" Huang Shimei reminded.

"Li Jing, I know this person, acquaintances ......" Xu Qing thought slightly, he had a relationship with Li Jing.

Huang Shimei admired Xu Qing very much at this time, she recognized so many big people, and she was not the kind she recognized on the news: "Brother Xu, do you recognize him?" He's such a great character......"

Xu Qing just shook his head, smiled without saying a word, and gently pinched the horse's belly, and the horse immediately trotted up, and Huang Shimei followed. In two days, Xu Qing and his entourage will also arrive in Qi County.

Although the Youzhou Governance Office is in Qi County, the military camp still has to go a long way north. Xu Qing showed the documents and fish talismans to the left-behind officials, asked for the detailed address, and walked for another day before arriving at the place where the salt was delivered, that is, the military camp guarded by Li Jing.

First of all, Liu Zan came out to meet him, and when he saw that the escort officer was Xu Qing, he was first surprised, then happy, and then worried, and asked Xu Qingdao:

"Could it be that Liu Mo's goods squeezed you?"

Xu Qing told him all the things that he couldn't understand. When Liu Zan heard this, he knew it in his heart, and said coldly:

"That Liu Mo is a person who is greedy for fame, you steal his limelight, so naturally you will be scolded."

But if you offend, you will be offended, and no one really takes it seriously. Liu Zan continued to ask Xu Qingdao: "Let's go and see General Li Jing first, you have seen it before." By the way, this time, you have to be careful with ......"

"Why?" Xu Qing asked, but Liu Zan was silent, and only glanced at Xu Qing deeply.

In the middle tent, the civil servants and military generals on both sides stood, and Li Jing's face sank like water. If you ask Li Jing why his face is so bad, then someone is going to say that within ten days, three batches of escort officers have been killed! I don't know how lucky I am with today's batch......

Why did you kill the escort officer? The materials transported, the quantity is short, the date is too late, and the condition is too inferior, all of them are killed...... The mortality rate of escort officers is even higher than that of front-line soldiers. Because at the beginning of transporting materials, it will be deducted from 10 to 30 percent, and it will be mixed with sand and mud. Cut off a little bit layer by layer and transport it to the front line, and only less than 30% of the materials that should be needed are left.

At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, it was okay and the politics were clear, but even so, it couldn't withstand the loss along the way, and the escort officer himself didn't have the money to make up for this difference, so there were fewer and fewer, and the second time came, and when he met a general like Li Jing who was extremely strict in governing the army, he would inevitably die.

Xu Qing didn't understand the meaning of Liu Zan's words, thinking that his backstage was relatively hard, he entered the middle tent nervously, first gave a military salute, and then said loudly:

"Xiaguan Cangzhou assassin Xu Qing, he was ordered to escort 10,000 catties of salt here, and now he is handed over to the military order."

There was a commotion among the people present, and the assassin Shi personally escorted him? That's a big deal...... Seeing that this person is so young, could it be that he was played as a monkey? I don't know what happens to the materials, whether it will be cut with a knife.

Li Jing frowned, he also thought of this, and Xu Qing recognized him, so he couldn't help asking: "You have a history of assassination, you should guard Zhou County, why did you become this escort officer?" ”

"Military funds are a matter of great importance, and I am afraid that there will be thieves and corrupt officials along the way, so I personally led the troops to escort them." When Xu Qing said it, his voice was trembling.

When everyone heard this, they nodded and praised this kid for being red-hearted, not like a person in the officialdom. Li Jing didn't move, and asked, "In other words, your batch of salt is guaranteed in quality and quantity?" ”

"Quality and quantity are ......," Xu Qing replied categorically.

"Master, see how much salt you have to deliver this time?" Li Jing tilted his head and said.

"Five thousand catties, more than yellow salt!" The master book groaned.

"Xu Qing, did you hear clearly?" Li Jing looked at Xu Qing again.

"This ......" Xu Qing was stunned, didn't he say 10,000 catties, why is there only 5,000 catties left? No wonder Liu Mo's kid didn't want me to escort ......

Seeing this, Li Jing's heart sank, but after all, Xu Qing had some influence in the court, and he was also a little jealous. Governing the army seriously does not mean that we do not understand the sophistication of human feelings. Li Jing said softly: "What? Insufficient or too subordinate? ”

Xu Qing shook his head: "It's not either...... Xiaguan, Xiaguan brought 10,000 catties of salt, all of which are white salt! ”

When the people present heard this, they all opened their eyes, this is terrible, the requirements of quality and quantity have cut off so many heads, but you have completed it with excessive quantity and high quality, and you are not afraid of the wind and breaking your tongue. Is it lying to cover up, or is there a fact, Li Jing was even more shocked: "You, do you know that there is no joke in the army?" ”

"No jokes!"

At ten breaths, Xu Qing led Li Jing and his people to hurry to the place where the convoy stopped. Without Li Jing's acceptance, no one can send these materials in privately.

"Come, open a bag and take a look at ......" Li Jing shouted to the man who was delivering salt from a distance of three feet. Those people looked at Xu Qing, Xu Qing nodded, and they went to pull out a bag. With a stroke of a knife, the white salt flowed to the ground, and people's eyes were straight.

Li Jing frowned and became angry, and said hurriedly: "Loser, I don't know how to do it!" ”

"White salt, not yellow salt, this is the white salt that big families have to eat carefully!" Li Jing was excited, dipped his finger in it, sent it directly to his mouth, tasted it, and said, "Good salt!" ”

Everyone went along and tasted it, and each praised it. Li Jing clapped his hands and picked up the salt on the ground, then stood up and said to Xu Qing: "You kid has done a great thing!" ”

"Okay, okay, in the future, our supplies will be let Xu Assassin Shiyun, right? Hahaha......"

"It's too famous, it's just a little salt......" Xu Qing hurriedly shook his head.

"It's just salt? You really said it easily......" Li Jing's eyes gave off a burst of light: "With this kind of good salt, it is just a trivial matter to let the soldiers eat a lot......" Li Jing said halfway, but stopped speaking.

It's half of the talk again, Liu Zan is half of the talk just now, and Li Jing is again, why did this group of generals learn the twists and turns of the literati one by one?

"Huh? Where did you find this group of people, it's not easy. Li Jing suddenly glanced at those originally inconspicuous people, and with his tiger eyes, he could see the difference in the eyes of these people at a glance.

They looked at the barracks, not at all afraid, but like ...... And what? Li Jing couldn't find that kind of taste, but Xu Qing knew that it was like an old student who went back to his alma mater to see. When you look at that look, you know it's different. You know, other people saw the barracks, but they couldn't wait to take a detour!

"They are all wounded soldiers who have retreated, veterans ......"

"You're raising them for nothing?" A trace of pity flashed in Li Jing's eyes, and he disappeared immediately.

"I found a piece of wasteland for them, they can also do simple farm work, finally they won't go hungry, after the autumn harvest, there is nothing to do, bring them to send this ......" Xu said lightly.

"Yes, you kid is affectionate and righteous, Brother Xu is not wrong......" Li Jing showed a hint of joy on his face, which was the kind of joy that looked at his own people. Everyone also praised Xu Qingren for being good.

"Brother Xu Shiji?" Xu Qing asked.

"Hmph, don't talk about this...... Li Jing said: "You kid is here, I'm afraid it's not to send these salts, right?" ”

"Hahaha, the little brother still wants to see the scenery outside the Saiwai here!" Xu Qing scratched his head and quietly climbed into friendship.

With Li Jing's permission, Xu Qing let the more than 1,000 people he escorted and those people go back, leaving only 30 cavalry and letting go of his hands to play in Youzhou.

After Li Jing learned that Xu Qing had brought a woman, he ridiculed Xu Qing and scolded him for abolishing his public for personal purposes. But in the end, he deliberately set aside a quiet place for Xu Qing to live a small life.

Some people compared the war victory rate of the Tang and Song dynasties and found that the victory rate of the Song Dynasty was much higher than that of the Tang Dynasty, so they came to the conclusion that the Tang Dynasty was inferior to the Song Dynasty. Originally, history was progressive, and comparing two dynasties is like comparing a three-year-old child with a young man in the prime of life. Militarily speaking, the Tang Dynasty never built a Great Wall to defend against foreign people. Why not fix it? Because there's no need to ...... In this way, it can be seen that the Tang Dynasty was strong militarily.

Now Li Jing is stationed here, half of which is based on the city wall left before, and half of it is guarded by himself. The room is limited, and idle people like Xu Qing can only set up tents. Fortunately, the tents were originally military supplies, so pick them up, and there are some good ones.

Xu Qing and Huang Shimei simply lived in the place that Li Jing had drawn, with Xu Qing Huang Shimei's big tent in the middle, and the thirty cavalrymen next to it.

Daily food, one pound of rice per person, two taels of pickles, are all sent by people in the army. Eating these, Xu Qing must be unaccustomed to eating, but Xu Qing, whose main purpose is tourism, how can he treat himself badly? Bring a cart of air-dried meat, smoked fish, everything, and open a picnic every day.

Three days passed, and the surrounding scenes were exhausted, and Xu Qing felt bored again. remembered that the 10,000 catties of salt, which was only half of it, Li Jing also left Xu Qing with 1,000 catties. This thousand catties of salt can only be transported back in Xu Qing's hands, rather than transported back......

By the way, why don't you go out of the jam and have a look?

Xu Qing's heart suddenly flashed with a flash of inspiration: Ah, Li Jing can pay me back a thousand catties of salt, could it be that I have planned to go back to the plug to open the waves? Worthy of the title of the great * god!