Chapter 572 The Tree Wants to Be Still but the Wind Does Not Stop
"What?! Su Dalang was thrown into prison?"
The news that Xiao Hei brought surprised everyone.
Cui Sanlun was so angry that he couldn't help coughing: "You only have one chance to escape from Kyoto, why is Dalang so careless?"
Xiao Hei opened his cute eyes and said honestly: "Su Dalang is not to blame for this. It was Madam Hou who reported it."
Hiss...
Cui Sanlun cursed: "You have long hair but short knowledge! I have long advised Su Dalang to send the old woman and the concubines to the suburbs, but he couldn't bear it! If you don't make a decision, you will suffer the consequences."
Cui Sanlun was very disappointed with Dalang, saying that Dalang was good in every way and had a good mind, but he was too soft-hearted and sentimental.
He had been trapped in Kyoto and had never met or interacted with Gu Nanxi's right-hand men.
Now that this has happened, how will these people view Su Dalang? Will they think that Su Dalang is a hopeless person?
In front of everyone, Cui Sanlun scolded Su Dalang harshly, and no one else could say anything.
Niu Jinyi analyzed rationally: "The government actually dared to capture Su Dalang, so there must be a trick up its sleeve. He is planning to break off relations with us. I just don't know how he plans to do it?"
Xiao Hei raised his hand weakly: "Concubine Tong told Master Tong, Master Tong told Lord Jiang, Lord Jiang told Shopkeeper Wu, Shopkeeper Wu told Su Dalang. The emperor was certain that Lord would go south after the tide receded, so he secretly assembled the army!"
Gu Nanxi: "Xiao Hei did a great job. Next time, just get to the point. Let's put Su Dalang's matter aside for now. Since the wind won't stop even though the tree wants to be still, let's change the plan and take over Hezhong County in one fell swoop!"
"Yes, sir!"
Gu Nanxi turned his gaze to Cui Sanlun: "Yi Zu, in your opinion, which army will the emperor call up?"
Cui Sanlun's eyes sparkled. "If Li Aotian leads the imperial guards to protect the capital, the emperor will definitely not touch him. The next ones are Wu Liang, who is stationed in Songzhou to guard against Tubo, Qin Liang, who is in charge of the coastal navy, Song Shoujie of Jinghu North Road, and Wang Yue of Jinghu South Road."
Cui Sanlun pointed at the map of the Great Zhou Dynasty and said, "Tubonia has repeatedly tried to probe us, and the small country of Japan is also eager to try. Therefore, Wu Liang and Qin Liang cannot be moved."
"If we take over Hezhong County, we will be only separated from Kyoto by Guangde. Your Majesty will certainly mobilize troops from Xiangzhou and Henan County to clamp us like a pincer."
"Starting from Hezhong County and heading south, the water system is well developed, which is a big disadvantage for us who mainly rely on cavalry. The government will definitely take advantage of this geographical advantage to achieve the effect of one gaining while the other loses."
"Song Shoujie and Wang Yue are both very good at naval warfare. In my opinion, the emperor will definitely choose one of them. I am more inclined to believe that the emperor will choose Song Shoujie."
Gu Nanxi humbly asked: "Why is it Song Shoujie?"
"Song Shoujie's ancestors had been serving in the navy, so they were of good family background. Wang Yue's background was a little worse. His grandfather was originally a pirate on Dongting Lake. The imperial navy failed to conquer the city many times, so they finally chose to surrender. That's how the Wang family came out clean."
Cui Sanlun's eyes flashed with sarcasm: "The government regards us as traitors, so naturally they will not choose Wang Yue, who has a flawed family background."
Niu Jinyi and others were convinced by Cui Sanlun's analysis.
In the subsequent strategic discussion, everyone reached a consensus.
Hezhong County is the first strategic point of contention.
Between Gu Nanxi and the imperial navy, whoever captures more territory in Hezhong County will gain a greater strategic advantage.
If Gu Nanxi can take over the entire Hezhong County, he can push the front line forward to Guangde Prefecture.
There is a small plain between Hezhong County and Guangde Prefecture. Gu Nanxi can station the cavalry on this plain and give full play to the cavalry's advantages.
Similarly, if the imperial navy could capture Hezhong County, they would be able to block Gu Nanxi in Wudu County.
If Gu Nanxi wanted to go south, he would have to defeat the imperial navy in the dense water network, which would double the difficulty.
As the saying goes, speed is of the essence in war. Gu Nanxi decided not to wait for the flood to recede, but to send out small boats to contact the various counties.
Hezhong County was originally a medium-sized county, but after the drought and civil unrest in the past few years, it has fallen to a lower level, with a total of six counties under its jurisdiction.
The best county was Hezhong Prefecture, with a population of over 2,000 households.
There are only two medium-sized counties, Taihe County and Suining County, with a population of over 1,000 households.
There are two lower-level counties, Xingye County and Xin'an County, with a population of less than 1,000 households.
The next-lower-class county was Pingyang, with a population of less than 500 households.
The population and governing institutions of Pingyang County have basically surrendered to Gu Nanxi. As soon as the flood recedes, Gu Nanxi will send troops to occupy Pingyang County.
As for Hezhong Prefecture, it will definitely be swallowed up last.
Xingye County and Xin'an County are both adjacent to Pingyang County. They are luckier because the terrain is very high.
When Hezhong Prefecture released floodwaters, the floods did not flow through these two counties.
Just looking at Pingyang County becoming a vast ocean, the people of the two counties felt very uncomfortable, or perhaps a sense of grief for the other.
At the market in Xingye County, there are fewer vendors selling wild vegetables and food, and most of them sell handicrafts.
Pedestrians came and went in a hurry and seldom stopped at these stalls. Instead, there was a long queue at a grain store at the end of the market, which almost reached the end of the market.
"What's the price of refined rice now?" a hunchbacked old woman in the team asked tremblingly while carrying a cloth bag.
A man with a pointed face and monkey cheeks in the team looked the old woman up and down and said sharply: "Your clothes are all patched up, how dare you buy refined rice? Refined rice is 170 Wen now."
The butcher who was also in line seemed to know the old woman and advised her, "Auntie, keeping adults alive is the most important thing. One hundred and seventy coins can buy three dou of brown rice. Your grandson was born like a skinny kitten, and your daughter-in-law has no milk. How can you feed him with rice soup alone?"
The old lady remained silent.
The butcher sighed. These days, no one has a good life. He could only give her some verbal advice.
The man with the pointed face and monkey cheeks curled his lips and complained quietly: "The people of Pingyang County are lucky. Before the dam broke, the Duke of Yun sent a ship to take them to Wudu County."
Others who had been listening quietly could not help but join in the discussion: "It's good to be at home for a thousand days, but it's hard to be away from home every day. People become worthless when they leave their hometown. They went to Wudu County, but they didn't have a good life either."
"You're wrong. I heard that in Wudu County, the price of refined rice is only 75 coins. They can buy a bushel of rice with a day's work. There is no entrance fee for entering or leaving the city, and no water fee. If you are willing to sign a lease with the county government, you can also get a low-interest loan for building a house."
“Is this true or false?”
"Of course it's true! In order to encourage childbirth, women who give birth to children can receive nutritional subsidies. They also have a foundling home. If a child cannot be raised, he or she can be handed over to the foundling home."
"How can such a good thing happen? Are you talking nonsense?!"
"I didn't! Duke Yun even sent someone to our county and met with our county magistrate!"
Thank you Baozi for your reward and support.
On a whim today, I made a pork trap.
As expected, it failed.
Other people’s pie crusts were soft and thin, but mine was thick and hard. What went wrong?
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