Putting aside the scruples of Du Yan for the time being, just talking about the Jingnan Courtyard, there are few idlers these days.

The busiest is the current endless stream of grain trading, every day shuttles non-stop horse-drawn carts, donkey carts, mule carts, ox carts and even merchants through the river ice with ice skids to transport a large amount of grain, most of these grains are all kinds of unhulled grains, grains are also varied, in addition to the common wheat and millet (millet), there are millet (yellow rice), peach millet (sorghum), soybean (soybean) and the like, as for rice and the like are not much, the merchants who send grain over are inevitably good and bad, and the types and grades of goods are also mixed with good and bad.

Most of the people in charge of this area are from the eighty-four peasant households that originally cultivated the land in the farmyard - the men in the peasant households are responsible for carrying the goods, and the women are responsible for cooking and delivering water and other chores, and the old people in these peasant families are not burdensome, most of them have worked on the land for half their lives, and they are familiar with crops and grains, and they are the best candidates to identify the quality of the grain they receive, which no one can compare with Luo Kaixian or Helton, even if the children of these peasant families, He will also help pick up the grain scattered on the ground in his spare time - the common characteristic of farmers in this era is only four words, industrious and simple.

Diametrically opposed to the simple character of the peasants is the cunning philistine, and there is no shortage of corresponding characters, it is a few fellows represented by Helton who have been merchants and soldiers, they are the best candidates to bargain with the grain merchants, these quick-tongued fellows have lived a good life like a fish in water these days.

If the main purpose of this trip to the East is to buy grain, then it is the top priority to protect oneself in the context of accomplishing this big goal!

The truth is simple and simple, iron needs to be hard, if you can't even master your own survival, what else do you have to do?

Therefore, since arriving in this land, except for the team members led by Helton, all the personal guards under Luo Kaixian have continued to improve the defense facilities of the village.

Facing nearly 3,000 meters from east to west and nearly 5,000 meters from north to south, this village is actually an irregular rectangle, and it is not a plain terrain.

The west side of the village is a series of low hills, different from the later generations when the wild vegetation was wreaked havoc, in this winter of this era, the low hills are covered with half-green and half-dead bushes, and the bushes are covered with half-hard snow, plus dead branches and leaves at least half a meter deep under the snow, except for small animals such as hares, foxes, badgers, etc., it is difficult for anyone to pass through the western foothills.

Corresponding to the west, the east side of the village is a sloping river flat, the surface of which is a thin layer of ice, but under the ice is a reed swing of uncertain depth, such a place where no one can pass through it without any damage, except for wild ducks and other water birds.

For this narrow stretch of land, the north-south direction is the land passage to the neighboring houses, but as mentioned above, there is a stream to the south of the village that comes down from the low hills in the west, and when it flows into the eastern part of the river, it becomes a swamp, and in this cold season, it becomes an ice marsh, on which are dry and sparse reeds, and under which are sticky silt and ...... Messy of reed roots, no one in the local folks will set foot in this area in winter.

Nowadays, the surface of this section has not changed much, but since Luo Kaixian came to Bianjing, some traps and diversion ditches have been secretly set up, and a layer of pitch-black crude oil with a pungent smell floats on the ditch, which has become even more desolate and strange......

The north side of the village is open, in addition to the ridges of the cultivated fields, the main road passage is here, it can be said that if there are outsiders to attack, this area is the best and most suitable route, for the safety of the village, this area is the defense of the important place.

In the warfare or offensive and defensive ways of this era, the best solution was to build a wall along the open field, but it was clear that this would not work. According to the Song law, the walls of commoners' homes should not exceed the homes of nobles, so what is the use of low walls? What's more, if you want to build a wall that can meet the enemy, where can you do it in a short time?

The second method is to dig a trench to set up a boundary river, not to mention whether the frozen ground can dig the frozen soil, which is actually a time-consuming and laborious errand.

Things that must be in a dilemma in the hearts of people in this era have become as easy as a handful of hands when they come to Luo Kaixian.

His method is very simple, one does not repair the wall and the other does not dig a ditch, but he ordered someone to demolish some useless old buildings inside the village, get a large pile of bricks and wooden beams, etc., and then use a cart to transport these materials to the open land in the north, and choose to build six bunker-style buildings in key positions.

The outside of the round tower fortress is straight up and down, there is no stepping point for climbing, the top is equipped with arrow stacks and the tribulus terrestris to protect climbing, the interior is two floors, the ground floor space is high, can be used to keep horses in captivity, there is a circle of wooden platforms and ladders inside, the platform can be used for soldiers to rest, you can also shoot arrows through the holes in the wall to prevent the enemy from attacking, you can go directly up to the top of the fortress by opening the cover plate along the stairs, the top of the fortress is a fairly wide platform in the arrow stack, and the cow and sheep dung are piled up in the middle to set up the "wolf smoke" warning purpose, which can be surrounded by four bed crossbows or large slingshots...... Although this thing is a little rudimentary, as long as there are a dozen people stationed inside, it is enough to resist the siege of hundreds of people in a short time.

There are a total of six of these round fortresses, and only one army of soldiers is needed to garrison them, and if it comes to wartime, two additional soldiers will be dispatched, a total of fifteen people, with equipment, enough to control the space within a radius of 200 steps. Moreover, the forts were spaced four hundred meters apart, and they became horns with each other, and there were cavalry wandering during this period......

It can be said that except for the pine cannon, a big killer that did not appear due to secrecy, Luo has exhausted his thoughts, and even so, he is still far from the ideal state in his heart, so he is not satisfied, and he always has to ride a horse every day to make rounds, and occasionally have ideas, so he makes his guards modify and improve.

This habit has been strengthened since Du Yan reported the news.

Another day, on the afternoon of the 27th day of the lunar month, Luo Kaixian had just returned from the fourth round, and Jin Qian, who had been wandering around the periphery of the village courtyard these days, came over.

"General, I encountered a gang of gangsters on the east bank of the river in the afternoon, arrested three people, and five others escape......d," Jin Qian reported with a glance.

Luo Kai raised his eyebrows first and asked, "Has the interrogation passed?" ”

"Yes, Lord. Those people were very arrogant, and their subordinates had to use some means to get a confession...... They claimed to be the people who helped Bianjing divide the rudder, and were invited by Shi Yuanqing, the son of Shi Baoji, the envoy of the Song State Zhen'an Army, to come to help...... This statement is consistent with the previous news report of the Samanid merchant Nuak...... "Jin Qian, who was born in Orion, is rare and meticulous compared with a group of people from the old Tang camp, and this remark can be described as comprehensive.

Nodding, Luo Kaixian stood up and said awe-inspiringly, "Have you ever investigated the whereabouts of the people who escaped?" ”

"They went to Yang's Zhuangyuan, ten miles away from Hedong, and there were many Zhuang in Yang's Zhuangyuan, which inevitably gave rise to branches, and their subordinates did not negotiate...... The Yang family originated from Haizhou, Jingdong (1), and according to the villagers, there were many bad deeds, and some people once saw the carts in his house coming and going, scattering soil and salt...... The people of the subordinate gang confessed that the Yang family was not idle, and some of his clan served in the Song Sanfa Division, and most of the clansmen were supporters of the Yan Gang...... "Obviously, in order to hand over with his own master, Jin Qian has done a lot of work.

gave this man a high score in his heart, but he didn't show anything on his face, Luo Kaixian ordered in a deep voice: "Jin Qian, you have twenty people, leave five people to monitor Hedong, and select ten people to hunt for misdeeds!" You personally go to Song Jing and go to Honglu Temple to inform Alki......"

Jin Qian stood up straight, bowed his head and responded: "Please show the Lord!" ”

"Hmm...... Thou shalt inform Alki and Antiano of the state of the Lodge, and pass me the order...... ordered the two to negotiate with the officials of the Song Guohonglu Temple...... If the Song Court can't control it, a certain Lingzhou Zhuang Yuan will not ban swords and kill all those who invade! Although Luo Kaixian's tone paused, it was just to let his subordinates accurately understand his mind, but the slaughter in his words was not ambiguous at all, and after the words, he casually threw a copper wrong gold talisman to Jin Qian.

"Order!" Jin Qian's eyes became hot after his hands turned into heavy delicate talismans, and he replied respectfully and then asked, "General, the people who were captured by my subordinates before...... How to dispose of it? Whether ......"

As he spoke, the guy's right hand was raised in the shape of a knife and waved it quickly.

Luo Kaixian shook his head lightly and replied: "Transfer it to Hutton to be detained in a chosen place, and after this incident, we will deal with it!" ”

"Yes, Lord! Subordinates retire! After Jin Qian responded, he turned around and hurriedly retreated.

As the main general, Luo Kaixian could not return to sit behind the table, he raised his hand to open the window, and the warm winter sun outside the window was reflected, but his heart was cold.

The disposal of the prisoners that Jin Qian said just now is just a trivial matter of law and military law, this time Shi Yuanqing went out to find something is a big deal, is it really as simple as a son to find face for his father?

Luo Kaixian didn't believe it at all.

If there was no connivance of Emperor Zhao Heng of the Song Dynasty or the ministers of the court, would the sons of the military generals dare to gather people to make trouble in this forbidden place in Kyoto at will? It's just a routine of this era!

Therefore, he has already made up his mind in his heart - to use swords and blood to give a warning to the rulers of this land, whether it is punishing Yang Jingzong or shopping on the long street, he will try his best to follow the rules of this era, but abiding by the rules is not the same as forbearance without a bottom line!

If you talk about sword warfare, who is he afraid of?

Since the Song people have carefully brewed the war to this point, why does he need to crown himself with the word benevolence and righteousness?

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Note: (1) Haizhou, now Lianyungang.

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P.S. In recent days, I have been rushing to a very tight design draft, and I have been entangled and headache for several days, and I have just finished it. Thank you for the WeChat red envelope reward of the book friend "Pingdao Deadwood" a few days ago!