"Elder Ge, don't be in a hurry to leave," Zheng Yunming took out an empty piece of paper from his arms and said goodbye: "I have discussed with Lu Weng, and many of the big and small affairs in the camp still rely on you to help, so we plan to ask Meng Shuai to keep you." ”

"For the time being, this Tulong Army will be divided into three armies: left, center, and right, I will be the general of the middle army, Lu Weng will be in charge of the right army, Ge Lao, you will personally bear the hard work, how about serving as the commander of the left army?"

Ge Huai was stunned for a moment: "Meng Shuai told me that your junior officials don't like our illiterate old men to manage the new army for you, so you didn't bring a general over, why do you want me to stay?" ”

"You're mistaken." Zheng Yunming said slightly apologetically: "The essence is not to blindly reject the military ministers to lead the army. I mean don't mix the old and the new army with twilight and vices. For a loyal and resolute general like Ge Lao, we have always been eager for it. Please don't think about the difference between civil and military, and you must stay and help me. ”

As long as there is a civil official with an official title, it is inevitable that he will look down on the martial artists who cannot read a single word, and even the staff members in the shogunate often make up jokes and laugh at these rude people behind their backs. A Wenchen with such an identity and knowledge as Zheng Yunming, Ge Huai had not heard such sincere words for a long time.

"No, the people who lead our troops to fight pay attention to loyalty and righteousness." Ge Huai stretched out his hand and took the edict paper: "As long as the manager has a place where Ge Huai can be used, go in the water, go in the water, and go in the fire!" ”

"It's just that in the future, you scholars will recite poems and admire the moon on a whim, drink and compose essays, and so on. Don't count Lao Ge in it. Ge Huai's straight stomach made everyone laugh.

There are roughly three roads from Gangneung to Xiangfan. One of the most convenient roads is undoubtedly to go north to Yingzhou first, and then take a boat from Hanshui to go straight to Xiangyang City.

And the most difficult thing is to detour to Xiazhou and return to the state. Cross the lofty mountains, reach the upper reaches of the Han River, and then go down the river to Xiangyang.

There is also a road from Jiangling along the Zhangshui River to the north, after the Jingmen Army landed, along the mountain road to the north across Jingshan and by land to Xiangyang City. This road is certainly easier than the road around Xiazhou, but it still has to cross the barriers of the Jingshan Mountains.

This road is certainly not as prosperous as the Hanshui waterway. However, it is not like the Guizhou Road, where only a few travelers and business travelers pass by. Every day, a considerable number of caravans would come ashore from Jingmen and pass through the dense hardwood forests of Jingmen Mountain, transporting Jiangling's specialty lacquerware, copperware, and paper to Xiangyang, where they would transport their catch, timber, and pickles back to Jiangling for sale.

But today, the merchants of Jingmen Military Wharf cursed their choice. It is better to spend a few more money to take a boat in Hanshui than to be stuck in a narrow road and unable to move.

It's just that this road, which is not prosperous on weekdays, is crowded with soldiers and dependents who are heading north.

Their destination was not Xiangyang, but a large mountain in the Jingshan Mountains between Xiangyang and Jiangling, known as Lao Ya Mountain.

The choice of this location as the location of the old camp of the Tulong Army was the result of the struggle of the generals of Tulong Mountain led by Zheng Yunming and the envoy of the Jinghu system. The original plan of the Jinghu Establishment Envoy was to place the prime minister's son and his huge team of companions in the suburbs of Gangneung Province, which was originally surrounded by water on three sides and was known as the natural danger of the three seas and eight cabinets, because it had not been warped for a hundred years, it had already been developed into a field by the people of Gangneung, and because it was filled with soil on the riverbed, the soil was particularly fertile, and it was a first-class fertile land in the Gangneung area.

Zhao Fan meant that he would rather use state power to expel the people who were farming here, and let Zheng Yunming take people to cultivate and study here with peace of mind, rather than letting him make trouble in Xiangyang Mansion.

However, Zheng Yunming took into account the independence of the Tulong Army and the restrictions on the degree of freedom of governance, after all, in Jiangling, the core of the Jinghu Triangle - that is, Xiangfan, Ezhou and Jiangling - the existence of important financial and tax areas, a large number of troops who came to eat here were originally gathered. The second-in-command of the three divisions of Jinghu are also gathered in Gangneung, and from the political point of view, it is actually an important national town that is not inferior to Xiangyang.

When there are more people, there will be more trouble.

Zheng Yunming would rather move his station north for hundreds of miles, moving to the Lao Yashan Boundary, which is located at the junction of Xiangyang and Jiangling. It is located in a dangerous pass, and there is Jingshan natural danger to hold. Guarding Lao Ya Mountain is equivalent to guarding the northern flank of Gangneung. What's more, Lao Yashan originally only had a sentry village of native soldiers, and only more than 100 militiamen were stationed. For Zhao Fan of Xiangyang and Bei Zhijie, the deputy envoy of Jinghu in Jiangling, they are beyond the reach of the whip.

"These two adults are characters who can't be messed with." Zheng Yunming complained to Yang Luo and Wang Deng, and circled Lao Ya Mountain on the map with a red pen on the other.

Of course, since he chose freedom of movement, Zheng Yunming also had to face all kinds of difficulties in being stationed in the wilderness.

The first thing to face is the headache of premises. There are only more than ten thatched huts in the old crow mountain military village. The periphery is hastily fenced with a few inches of thick logs, which is a common method of building cottages in Jinghu. However, for the Tulong army, their families and the people of Tuntian, with a population of more than 10,000, this is almost equivalent to no shelter and security.

Secondly, the consequence of being stationed away from important towns on land and water was that a large number of manpower had to be arranged every day to organize the supply of the army. A grain of rice and an arrow that the Earth Dragon Army needs. They had to be transported from Xiangyang Mansion to Lao Ya Mountain by a cart and a flat pole through a winding mountain road. The cost of the journey alone is already expensive.

Not to mention that Jingshan is surrounded by mountainous land, and there is a serious shortage of fields available for cultivation, and it has been abandoned for many years, so it is an impossible task to place tens of thousands of people here.

"It can't all be here." Lu Xunzhi suggested to Zheng Yunming: "Only a few people can be left here to reclaim wasteland." The rest of the people can be settled on the land between Lao Yashan and Jingmen and Xiazhou, which was originally very barren and barren, but according to those who went to survey, although the soil quality here is not as fertile as that of the three seas and eight cabinets, it can also be called a medium field. ”

"Place a beacon on Jing Mountain." Zheng Yunming nodded and said, "Once the enemy comes to attack, the old camp can accommodate the people nearby." And the Tuntian farmers south of the old camp could quickly retreat to the Jingmen army. Then transfer from Zhangshui to Gangneung. ”

Having said that, when Zheng Yunming walked in the middle of the team and saw with his own eyes a few fields that were only occasionally revealed between the mountains, all that remained were dense mountains and forests and patches of barren grass, and he couldn't help but worry about the difficulties of farming in the future.

When the team marched to the open area at the foot of Jing Mountain, they saw the endless rice fields, the rice seedlings in the field are the season of struggling to grow, the mountains and fields are verdant and verdant, and there are farmers leading their ploughing cattle from time to time between the vertical and horizontal fields, if it were not for the undulating Daise mountains in the distance, Zheng Yunming almost thought that he was still in the beautiful Jiangnan.

Yang Luo walked in the team and saw Xian'er riding a donkey in front of him, talking with Han Shilang beside him about which was more beautiful, the scenery here or Jiangnan. He took two steps forward, and secretly stabbed the donkey in the buttocks with an iron cone hidden in his sleeve.

The donkey was in pain, neighed, and carried Zheng Xian off the road and into the field by the roadside. Xian'er screamed and tried to tighten the reins, but it was all in vain on the painful donkey. The donkey carried the terrified Xian'er in the field, and the recruits couldn't help but laugh when they saw the comical appearance of the main general's scholar screaming in the field.

It wasn't until a few sergeants outflanked the donkey from different directions that they could barely restrain the crazy donkey, and at this time the entire rice field had been trampled and in a mess, and the owner of the farmland who heard the news hurried over, but saw so many officers and soldiers standing on the road, just stomping their feet and scolding from a distance, and did not dare to approach a little.

Zheng Yunming rode on the horse, his sword eyebrows upside down, and asked loudly: "Zheng Xian!" What have you done! Before going on the road, repeatedly state military discipline, how to say it! ”

Wang Deng said loudly: "Those who trample and destroy the seedlings of farmland along the road will have twenty rods!" "I told you so!" Zheng Yunming's voice rose higher than Wang Deng: "Those who violate the people will be punished three times as much as the original punishment!" Military Judge! Sixty canes will be given to Zheng Xian on the spot! ”

The two Yu Marquis stepped forward and grabbed Xian'er, completely ignoring Xian'er's cries and knocking him to the ground.

"Wait a minute!" Yang Lian raised his hand and said, "Zheng Xian is just a first offense, and because the mount was frightened, the offense was not his intention. According to the usual practice, the sentence should be commuted! ”

When the generals saw Yang Yu open his mouth, they also bowed down to plead with Zheng Yunming. After all, there is no one who is unwilling to give a favor to the close attendant of the main general.

Wang Deng also said: "The frightened beasts are beyond the control of manpower, and if the horses are frightened and trample on the crops in the future, the soldiers will also be punished three times more severely, which is unjust, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to convince the people." ”

Zheng Yunming glared at Wang Deng: "If the war horse is frightened for no reason, the cavalry is not strictly trained, how can it be called innocent?" However, Nian Zheng Xian is only a first-time offender, and there is still a forgivable reason, the punishment rod is halved, and the rod is thirty! No one shall open their mouths to intercede! Cane hand, don't punish for anything! ”

The two staff bearers raised the black oil wooden sticks and crackled, and each time the staff went down, Xian'er's screams were heard by the soldiers of the whole army and the people who gradually gathered around to watch, and many people secretly thought in their hearts that Zheng Yunming's approach was too harsh.

When the torture rod reached twenty strokes, Zheng Yunming opened his mouth and shouted: "Stop! ”

The staff man hurriedly stopped the stick in his hand and looked up to listen to the commander's order.

"I am Zheng Xian's master." Zheng Yunming turned over and dismounted as he spoke, and began to untie his official robe: "Zheng Xian violated the law, I did not control it properly, and part of this punishment should be used on me." ”

His opening was in an uproar, and in this era, there was a clear distinction between the high and the low, and it was unthinkable that the master would come forward and suffer for the servants.

Wang Deng immediately shouted: "You are the chief general of the first army, how can you be punished by yourself?" ”

Ge Huai also hurriedly came to persuade him: "General, you have gone too far by doing this, although the master and servant are intimate, after all, there is a difference between the top and the bottom, why is it just that Zheng Xian made a mistake, and you still have to bear this punishment yourself?" ”

Xian'er lay on the ground and begged: "Don't do this, Childe, Xian'er will be beaten obediently!" ”

"Elder Ge doesn't have to persuade him," Zheng Yunming had already taken off his clothes at this time and lay on the ground: "This is to set a rule for you in the future, anyone who has a pro-soldier slave who violates military law, the master has a joint involvement, cane hand, execution!" Otherwise, for the crime of disobeying military orders, you will be beheaded first! ”

The two cane bearers hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed: "No matter what, don't dare to torture the master!" ”

(As usual, the ball is rewarded with various collection red tickets)