It has been a month since the defeat of the Northern Army of the Annexation State, and there is no fighting in the land of the Annexation State. Because of the Zhao army's policy of treating the people well, the mountain bandits and rogues in the land of Bingzhou, who were originally caused by the war between the Bingzhou army and the northern army of Bingzhou and the Turks, gradually surrendered one by one and surrendered out of the mountains under the condition that the Zhao army pardoned their crimes.

As for those who once committed great crimes in the township, Zhao Xun naturally would not let go, and some mountain bandits and rogues who were unwilling to surrender were also wiped out under the strong attack of the Zhao army. In the absence of a common people's base, no matter how many mountain bandits and rogues there are, they are no match for the imperial army.

Of course, Zhao Xun did not kill all the evil mountain bandits. According to the old rules, Zhao Xun asked them to repair roads and bridges. For Zhao Xun, the smooth flow of roads plays a vital role in the management of the imperial court, commerce and the military. Therefore, at the very beginning of Zhao Xun's seizure of the annexed states, he asked the local takeover officials to take charge of clearing the fields, allocating the land, and repairing the Chi Road.

Situ Lei's agreement to let the displaced people in his territory enter the state was not to put heavy logistical pressure on Zhao Xun? Because of Situ Lei's switch and the attraction of Zhao's policies in the territory, in just one month after the two armies reached an agreement, more than 300,000 people have flowed into the southern prefectures and counties of Bingzhou, which is still because Situ Tai in the southern part of Bingzhou has not withdrawn at the beginning. In short, the entry of these displaced people with no belongings has brought a lot of pressure to the state capitals.

However, the officials who took over the local area were all veterans with experience as officials in Youzhou and Jizhou, so they did everything in an orderly manner, such as clearing the fields, distributing land, and relocating displaced people.

In addition to clearing the fields and allocating land, officials in various state capitals immediately mobilized the people to repair the Chi Road, which for ordinary people and displaced people, in addition to providing three meals a day, they could also get some wages. Don't forget, in this era, in this era of warlord scuffle, the government makes the people work, which is called labor, and there is no wage. In fact, there are many times when even life cannot be saved. Zhao Jun's arrangement can be regarded as giving these homeless people a way to live.

Of course, for those local gentry who refuse to cooperate, they can only work with those mountain bandits and rogues without compensation until a certain period is reached. In other words, these people, dealing with Zhao Jun, the local government can only treat them as prisoners, and they are tortured and labored here.

Although it seems that the cost of building this galloping road between the state capitals is too high, the benefits that can be obtained in it have also made Zhao Jun feel amazed over time. Zhao Xun's galloping road is the same as the highways at all levels in his memory, and it is also divided into various grades. Depending on the place where you come and go, the grade is also different. But no matter what, in the county-level units, they are all paved with cement, and the most important thing is to prevent heavy rain from falling and mud roads are difficult to walk. Although this is inferior cement, although this cannot be compared with the cement oil road in memory, but here, the carrying capacity of the road is not very large, and there is nothing too heavy.

However, with the advent of Chidao, the number of merchants came and went, and local commerce flourished. Handicraft workshops have appeared in many places, and silk, cloth, livestock fur, livestock breeding, etc. have become a certain scale. On the galloping roads, there are caravans of carriages day and night. As a result, many inns were built along the galloping road, especially the kind of places where the two towns were far apart, which would form a small place for merchants to rest.

The smooth passage of the road also led to the prosperity of commerce, and the prosperity of commerce meant that the government could collect more taxes. Because of the smooth flow of the road, it also makes the number of people who go out to play, study and study gradually increase, and the cement road is not afraid of rain and is not bumpy. Sitting in a carriage is much more comfortable than riding a horse. Therefore, in the past there were many riders on the roads, but now there are many carriages on the roads.

At the beginning of the construction of Chi Road in Youzhou, Jizhou, Qingzhou, Dingzhou, and Liaozhou, the administrative secretary and the officials of various departments only agreed to build Dingzhou and Liaozhou Chi Road first in order to rule, and as for the southern state capital, there was no need to build it again. But Zhao Xun still decisively ordered to build in each state capital in sections, and for this reason, the Finance Department was also cleaned. However, Huitong Bank played a big role in this and issued bonds again. However, now it seems that the benefits obtained by Tong Guchi under Zhao Jun are enough to surprise all those who oppose it.

It is also because of this that at the same time that the land of the annexed state was taken, the operation of building the Chi Road was also launched. This is also the most fundamental reason why Zhao Xun originally planned to complete negotiations with Situ Lei and asked Situ Lei to release the exiles into the country. Now it seems that things are going in the direction they planned.

"Cao Gang had been executed in public five days earlier, and when he was executed, the people cheered. The prestige of the lord in the northern land of the state has reached its peak. Riding on the top of the war horse, Wei Chen asked Zhao to report the situation around the land of the recent annexation.

"What Cao Gang did, he did it himself. As the chief general of the border army, it is stupid to disregard the life and death of the local people and collude with the Turks. Speaking of which, Cao Gang has also been in the northern region of Bingzhou for many years, as long as he can hold the place and block the entry of the Turks. Anyway, it's better than it is now. Even if Situ Tai was in charge of the state, he didn't dare to attack him lightly. Without the support of the people, he and the Northern Army of the state would be a castle in the air, and it would fall down at the slightest touch. Zhang Yuanjing, who was accompanying him, shook his head and said.

"Wei Chen, how is the battle of Yongzhou? After we defeated the Turks, this Murong Chengke is huge, extraordinary, is it that after so long, he has not been able to help the two levels? Zhao Xun said unhurriedly.

At this moment, Zhao Xun and the guards are moving towards Jinyang City, Taiyuan Prefecture, after all, this Jinyang City is the seat of the state and the center of the state. Zhao Xun naturally had to arrange the civil and military affairs of the state this time, the south should defend against the surprise attack of the Yong army, and the north of the state should intervene in the war between the Turks and the Qianghu. Therefore, Zhao Xun hopes that this state will calm down as soon as possible. Of course, Zhao Xun also needs to find out about the entry of displaced people.

Wei Chen said in a deep voice: "Although Murong Cheng is aggressive, Situ Lei is also very aware of the importance of these two levels, and he knows better what he Situ Lei will face after Murong Cheng enters Luoyang." Therefore, in the land of Yongzhou, with the help of the landlord's interests, he strictly defended and refused to fight, so that Murong Cheng could not attack for a long time. In the Tiger Prison Pass in the north, because the Tang Army, the Yanzhou Army, and the Xuzhou Army had no gains for a long time, they gradually began to pull their hind legs, making the offensive even more unbearable. However, the January attack, both the attacking side and the defending side, suffered considerable losses. According to Yanzhou's report, Murong Cheng lost more than 100,000 of his subordinates. And Situ Lei is not less than 80,000 people. It can be said that now both sides are battered and scarred. ”

"By the way, news came from Youzhou that Murong Cheng had sent someone to contact our army and let our army dispatch. In particular, it is best to go south from Bingzhou, and together with his Yangzhou army, flank Situ Lei on both sides. ”

Zhang Yuanjing snorted coldly and said, "Let's go?" It seems that this Murong Cheng was beaten not lightly. Nearly 100,000 people were lost in the two passes of Yongzhou alone, plus the sporadic battles in the north of Jingzhou and Jiaozhou, I am afraid that the losses of both sides will be increased by 30%. This Murong Cheng was only afraid that he saw that the lord had taken a big advantage in the land of the state but did not move, so he wanted the lord to also participate and fight to the death with Situ Lei. Now Murong Cheng is clear, this land of Yongzhou is not easy to fight, and this Situ Lei is ready to fight hard. By the way, didn't you say that what benefits can we gain by sending out an army to defeat Situ Lei? ”

Wei Chen said: "Murong Cheng's people said that if we send an army and defeat Situ Lei, we will gain the northern states, that is to say, the land of Liangzhou will be ours in the future." ”

Zhang Yuanjing said angrily: "After talking for a long time, we have no benefit, and we have given him Murong Cheng to work for nothing." Did this Situ Lei think too beautifully, we went out to attack Situ Lei, and as a result, Liangzhou was awarded to us? What about Yongzhou, Yizhou, and Ningzhou? Don't say the rest, we went to Yongzhou, but we didn't have any benefits in Yongzhou? In the end, we had to attack Liangzhou by ourselves, and unceremoniously divided the general areas of the two sides. This Murong Cheng is too taken for granted, it seems that the situation that really made us conquer the state without fighting Situ Lei to the death, and also made the Turks retreat, made Murong Cheng jealous. ”

Zhao Xun said slowly: "This Murong Cheng really regards himself as the emperor who is about to succeed him. ”

"Emperor? Mo said that he hadn't climbed up yet, even if he climbed up, he couldn't command the Quartet. However, we cannot send troops, but we cannot directly refuse. After all, on the surface, we are still members of the court. It is under the banner of destroying traitors and foreign enemies. Zhang Yuanjing said slowly.

Zhao Xun said with a smile: "You also said that we are fighting under the banner of eliminating traitors and foreign enemies, since this traitor cannot be moved, then we will make a fuss about foreign enemies." Moreover, after a hard fight, although we took and annexed the state, our Zhao army also needed to rest and recuperate, and we needed to deal with local affairs. As for Yongzhou, we can't help it. Even, we still count on the Qi army to enter Yongzhou and help us resist the Liangzhou army in the west and the Turks in the north. ”

Zhang Yuanjing stroked his palms and smiled: "I think that this Murong Cheng must be very angry when he receives our reply. ”

Wei Chen went on to report: "Murong Cheng also sent people to win over the middle and high-level officers and generals of the Yanzhou Army and the other two armies, and it seems that they want the three parties to join or fight each other. ”

"When the lord established this Yanzhou army, it was indeed a good move. Now, on the Jizhou and Qingzhou sides, we can completely ignore the threat that the south may pose. For the Yangzhou army, it is a big trouble. However, this Murong Cheng also saw the problem that there was no unified command among the princes and they did not listen to the dispatch. Now the Xuzhou Army, the Yanzhou Army and the Tang Army are under each other's control, so that Murong Cheng can't make a move as casually as before. ”

"The Yanzhou Army, together with the Xuzhou Army and the Tang Army, separated us from the Yangzhou Army, and also gave Jizhou and Yongzhou a hidden protection, which really allowed us to relax a lot. Otherwise, this king would not have mobilized most of the Jizhou army to the west to merge the state during the battle of Yongzhou Liangguan before the northern army went south. The significance of this Yanzhou military existence is indeed greater than we expected. Zhao Xun said lightly.

"By the way, did Situ Tai return to Yongzhou smoothly? This king also hopes that Yongzhou will be in chaos at that time. Zhao Xun suddenly remembered the governor of Bingzhou Situ Tailai who was put back by himself.

Wei Chen said with a smile: "I've gone back, and now I'm stationed in the old capital of Chang'an." Moreover, I don't know if it was because he felt that he had too few troops or felt unsafe, after he returned to Chang'an, he did not directly meet his father Situ Lei, but stayed in Chang'an without moving. According to what we have investigated, it seems that when we and Situ Lei completed the negotiations, Situ Lei had already ruled out the herald to send an order to Zhenlin County day and night, asking Situ Tai to retreat with the whole army. As a result, for some reason, the herald disappeared halfway. ”

"Therefore, now Situ Lei ordered that Situ Tai should temporarily live in Chang'an, responsible for coordinating the reinforcements from Liangzhou and Yizhou and preparing food and grass materials for them. In fact, this Situ Tai has now controlled the power of Jingzhao Mansion, Feng Ling Mansion, Shangluo Mansion, and Jingyang Mansion in the west of Yongzhou, in other words, this Situ Tai has become half of the Metropolitan Governor of Yongzhou, just like the original Metropolitan Governor of Yongzhou. Of course, there were also the Metropolitan Governors of Yongzhou and the Metropolitan Governors of Ningyi. The Governor of Yongzhou was cut off half of his rights, and the Governor of Ningyi also handed over the land of Hanzhong and Hanzhong in the north of Yizhou to Situ Tai, who was actually responsible for the defense of the northern part of Hanshui. Because, Jingzhou's army has appeared in the north of Hanshui and attacked Wuguan in the north. ”

Zhang Yuanjing pondered for a moment and said, "This Situ Lei's eldest son is only afraid that he has already made a move, and Situ Lei is also clear in his heart. It seems that there is no need for the lord to provoke it, and the sons of Situ Lei have already had contradictions. Although this Situ Lei hopes to choose the best among the several sons. But I'm afraid that it will be difficult for him to control the actions of these sons. As for the actions of the Jingzhou army, I am afraid that Situ Lei's situation is worse than expected. However, it is already the end of October. It won't be long before the war will stop. ”

"Well, our main purpose now is the land of Qianghu and the northern Turks. There should be no problem in the land of Qianghu, in the case of the commotion of the Liangzhou army, and our army swept westward, the Qianghu tribes will either surrender or exterminate the clan, which has Wei Zilin to coordinate the overall situation. This king believes that Wei Zilin and Li Huaiyuan can handle things well. ”

"Next, it's time for the Turks of the north. However, winter came, and the Turks did not live very well. We can take this opportunity to win over the target we need, and we only need eight or nine to serve as a northern barrier, and then we can gradually push outward and build a city gradually. ”

Zhang Yuanjing said: "Rest assured, the Lord can rest assured, our people have already won over the three tribes, and just in case, the soldiers of these three tribes have been stained with the blood of the rest of the tribes, and there are also scouts from some big tribes." After all, not every tribe can survive the winter well, especially at the end of last year, coupled with our surprise attack, this Xue Jian Khan is on the grassland. This is also an opportunity for us to make many tribes dissatisfied, but also to make the lives of many tribes unsustainable. ”

Zhao Xun nodded, he already knew what Zhang Yuanjing said. In the snow disaster and the sweep of his own army, Xue Jian Khan suffered from the seedlings, and Xue Jian Khan naturally needed to let other tribes share their losses in order to make up for the losses. Of course, in order to swear the supremacy of his khan, he conquered several small and medium-sized tribes by force, and expanded his army and herdsmen. But because of this, some tribes were dissatisfied with Xue Jian Khan, which also gave Zhao Xun the possibility of wooing him and even making him subjugated. When winter arrives and heavy snow falls, that's the best time to do it.

"When the snow falls, it's time for our soldiers to go out on the grasslands. There are not a few iron cavalry of my Zhao army, and the strength of my Zhao army's armor far exceeds that of the Turks, why are we guarding and the Turks attacking? From this year onwards, it's time for us to change it. Heavy snow, I, the Han people, are not afraid, but this king wants to make the Turks worse. It seems that in order for the government to prepare a batch of cultivated saplings, it is best to make the grassland dense forest. Zhao Xun said lightly.

"The Lord is going to fight back? However, there are many things that we need to prepare. Among them, the soldiers needed strong wine for warmth, food, and bowstrings multiplied......"

From Dingping County to Taiyuan Mansion, there have been many sections along the way that have begun to build Chi Road, Zhao Xun took the pro-guard army all the way down, and saw that the local government has a new look. At the very least, the people in this place have begun to accept Zhao Jun and are no longer afraid of Zhao Jun. And some displaced people have also appeared in this central region, and it seems that there are still more displaced people entering the country from the south than expected. Although Situ Lei strictly ordered the card to prohibit the young and strong from passing the test, how could he stop the people who were trying to survive. Coupled with the help of the merchants of Zhao Di, all the homeless people became caravan guards to go back and forth. In addition, in order to make the young and strong people who are in the flow enter the country and prevent the homeless wives from being separated, Zhao Xun also sent a large number of people to buy the guards of the Guanka and find hidden passages.

The original pipelines along the road, especially in the central land, have not yet been renovated, but on this pipeline, there are many horse-drawn carriages, most of them are merchants from all over the world, and even many of them are local merchants. But no matter what, it is a businessman who has handled the business registration in the local commerce department, which means that Zhao Jun can collect an extra share of taxes.

Of course, no matter what kind of caravan it is, no matter whose caravan it is, wherever the army goes, you must avoid giving way. After all, the military situation is urgent. When Zhao Xun approached Jinyang City, he saw a lot of caravans and carriages, all passing on the official road.