When Yu Zhongwen arrived in Nanping City, it was the Lantern Festival in the Central Plains, and he saw fireworks exploding in the silent night sky, one by one, colorful, scattered everywhere, unpredictable; Like meteor showers disappearing into the night sky, and like butterflies flying around, for a moment, it seems that countless sparkling diamonds are inlaid in the dark sky, so distinct, so dazzling. What touched Yu Zhongwen was not the exquisite and picturesque fireworks patterns, but the magnificence before the fireworks burst, blooming and disappearing, only in an instant.

The five hundred horsemen behind Yu Zhongwen were also stunned, how did Gaochang bewitch a place, otherwise where would such a brilliant scene come from; Under the leadership of Liang Shuo, the army was stationed in the pre-built camp, and the wine and meat were already on the table. The village is not far away, neatly planned, and the laughter of adults and the screams of children can be heard from time to time; Yu Zhongwen asked the soldiers to eat, and he took the guards to walk around the village, and found that every family had food, and there were usually two or three pieces of salted meat hanging at the door.

Yu Zhongwen went all the way back to Chang'an from Zhuojun to Gaochang, and there are not many villages that can have such a standard of living, and there are many frozen bones on the stinky road of Zhumen's wine and meat. Liang Shuo introduced that Gaochang County implements the policy of buying grain at a low price per person, and in addition to conscription and military dependents, salt and meat are distributed during the Chinese New Year, which is not much, but it is enough for a family of three to pack two meals.

Yu Zhongwen said with emotion: "That's good. Yang Chongtian asked for food in the concert, but the actual situation was much better than I imagined, no wonder Li Jing wanted to bring people to Gaochang, I heard about it in Dunhuang, and the life of the last county was difficult. ”

Liang Shuo said with a smile: "Qinghai County has not been lost, and the situation in the last county is better than Gaochang, there are fewer people, more land, and more prisoners, but the days are passed and will not fall from the sky." ”

Yu Zhongwen already knew that Liang Shuo was only the commander of Nanping City, and he was not even a county order, so he said with concern: "Otherwise, I will talk to Yang Chong and arrange for you to go to Jimo County to be a county commander." ”

Liang Shuo thanked him and said: "Thank you for your appreciation, it's just that Gaochang County is in ruins, and the lower officials can't open this mouth." Yang Junshou himself is very busy, if it weren't for the children in the school who can't go home tonight for the New Year, he will definitely come to greet the adults in person. Fortunately, the Fengle wine shop that picked up the wind for the adults was in front of the school, and it is estimated that Yang Junshou was already waiting for the adults now. ”

The adjutant general behind Yu Zhongwen pouted, is it important for a child to be a general? Yu Zhongwen didn't think so, Yang Chong and Yu Qintao both said this in their letters, Yang Chong made a promise, and he could only keep his promise. After entering the city, all the way is full of lanterns and people playing, everyone is smiling; When the group arrived in front of the wine shop, Yang Chong took Cui Kaiyuan, Meng Fan, Yuan Renhui, He Lanyi, Tuoba Anhu, Yu Qinzhang and others to greet them at the bottom of the stairs, and Yu Qintao, Kou Jiuhui and other businessmen were in the back row.

Yang Chong stepped forward to salute, Yu Zhongwen got off the horse and laughed and said: "Good boy, the Holy Son of Heaven sent you to Gaochang to find the right person, it is the luck of the people, and it is the luck of my Great Sui." ”

Yang Chong respectfully led the way and said: "The general has an overreputation, and Yang Chong does not dare to accept it. ”

Yu Zhongwen and Yang Chong walked side by side and said: "There is nothing to be modest, good is good, the old man will not ask for less materials because you are modest." ”

Everyone laughed, and the news that Yu Zhongwen had cornered Zhao Hongsi, the county guard, in Dunhuang had already been reported; Dunhuang County is similar to Gaochang, not only the city is prosperous, but also has a large-scale tuntian camp. In the third year of the emperor's reign, the Turks committed the blockade, and Tugu Hun Koubian; Dunhuang was favored by Emperor Wen of Sui Emperor Yang Jian as an important place for transshipment of materials, and Zhao Zhongqing, the former governor of Shuofang, was appointed as the county guard, and Tuntian was built north of the Great Wall. After Zhao Zhongqing's death, his son Zhao Hong's heir inherited his father's business and served as the county guard.

Yu Zhongwen said unceremoniously: "I will solve the grain in Dunhuang, and the war horses will be transferred from Longyou, but the weapon can only be found for you, I need 100,000 arrows and 5,000 sets of armor, iron armor, not leather armor." ”

Yang Chong said with a smile: "No problem, it's just the original iron armor of Gaochang Kingdom and the Turks, Qinzhang is here, there is no Mingguang armor and fine scale armor in our equipment, and a thousand sets of armor have been sent to Chang'an." In this way, I will let Qin Zhang take 300 armored cavalry to accompany you on the expedition, even if it is Gaochang's troops. ”

Yu Zhongwen asked Yu Qinzhang: "How many cavalry are there in Gaochang now?" ”

Yu Qinzhang understood what his Lao Tzu meant, and said truthfully: "After General Ma defected, it had just been expanded into four battalions, the Heavenly Wolf Battalion under General Ma, the Nanping Battalion under General Tuoba, the Hunter Battalion under General Xie, and the Gaochang Battalion guarding Gaochang, with 3,000 people per battalion, and I am now the deputy general of the Gaochang Battalion." ”

Yu Zhongwen understood that the cavalry could not be adjusted, and the troops that had just formed the army needed training in many places, especially the three battalions outside the Gaochang battalion were expanded by 5,000 cavalry, and the military spirit was not stable enough, and the combat effectiveness was a problem. But Yu Zhongwen had no choice, Wang Wei and Zuo Kunlun's team morale was probably worse, so he had to ask with a tiger face: "Can you draw infantry from other places, or the formed cavalry, it doesn't matter if the number is smaller." ”

Yang Chong smiled bitterly: "The heavy infantry battalion has no heavy armor, and if you go to battle, you will be sent to death; Once the giant crossbow battalion goes out, 1,000 people will need 60,000 arrows, and the remaining 40,000 are you enough? ”

Yu Zhongwen was overjoyed and said: "Then it's decided, a giant crossbow battalion of 1,000 people plus 300 armored horses, 40,000 arrows and 5,000 sets of iron armor." ”

Yang Chong finalized on the spot, Long Shanming and Yu Qinzhang led the army, and Helan Yi, as the special envoy of Gaochang County, was responsible for the coordination of the two forces; Yu Zhongwen nodded secretly, Yang Chong really pays attention to what he does. Yang Chongming knew that the army was going out, and no matter how many troops Gaochang had, it would be impossible to form an army alone, so he still appointed a special envoy because he was worried about the loss of the troops in the battle and the fact that he might not be able to return to Gaochang after the war; Helanyi's task is to report the situation to Gaochang County at any time and strive for the greatest interests of Gaochang County.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors, Yang Chong mentioned the matter of Tianluo Village and Xue Daoheng's family members with a smile, Yu Zhongwen could only agree, but affirmed that Xue Daoheng's family members belonged to atonement, and they were sentenced to ransom with 100 catties of copper each. This is similar to Fang Xuanling's estimate, seventeen important figures in the Xue family, that is, 1,700 catties of copper; Yang Chong has a copper mine in Yinshan, but he doesn't care, so let's make sixty sets of copper armor less for the time being.

Yang Chong took out the documents that Fang Xuanling had prepared a long time ago, asked Yu Zhongwen to sign them, and handed them to Yu Qintao and said: "This matter will trouble you, 1,700 catties of copper, and let Jiuhui send someone to the Northwest Commercial Bank tomorrow." ”

Yang Chong was so true, Yu Qintao could only look at his father Yu Zhongwen, and Yu Zhongwen immediately ordered a school captain to accompany Yu Zhongwen's steward to the end of the county tomorrow to handle the matter and bring all the people back. Speaking of the war that followed, Yang Chong suggested that Yu Zhongwen use two people, Feng Xiaoci of Jincheng County and Shi Daqian of Jimo County.

Yu Zhongwen sighed: "Feng Xiaoci and Zhao Hongsi are unwilling to go on the expedition, so they can only be Qu Tugai and Liu Quan, and the five thousand elite soldiers brought from Guanzhong are left in Yiwu County and are all under the command of Qu Tugai. ”

Yang Chong could only give up, Zhao Hongsi, like himself, had the military and politics in hand, and there was a Turkic threat in the north, so it was normal for him to refuse to leave; Feng Xiaoci's actions are intriguing, maybe Yuan Honghei came to Longyou is a mistake, it seems that his power has skyrocketed, but in fact, all his descendants stay in Shandong, which is equivalent to taking office alone.

(End of chapter)