It was approaching noon, and the scorching desert temperature made people sweat non-stop.
The people in Jiling City hid in their homes to cool off, and there were not many people on the street.
As the largest city in the southwest border of the Western Qin Dynasty, Jiling City has a permanent population of nearly 100,000 and a floating population of nearly 200,000.
In recent years, the city walls have been expanded several times, greatly increasing the area of Jiling City, but This still does not alleviate the pressure on this ancient town from the rate of population growth.
Jiling City is not only the largest city on the southwest border of Western Qin, but also the largest trade distribution center.
It is the transportation hub between Western Qin and the Dashi Kingdom. 80% of the merchants and goods traveling between the Western Qin and the Dashi Kingdom pass through here. , so the permanent population of this city has increased more than ten times in the past ten years, and the floating population has doubled every year.
This is probably because its huge cargo throughput has made people from far and near see the business opportunities here.
Go here.
However, the economic blockade imposed by the Western Qin Dynasty on the Great Food Kingdom some time ago and the recent approaching war have made this city become depressed.
More than 80% of the floating population has left within the past two months, and many permanent residents have also sold their properties here.
The store moved to another location.
Suddenly a group of soldiers and horses came to the street and started to stand guard along the street.
Three or two pedestrians on the street hid immediately when they saw this formation.
People in the shops and houses on both sides of the street heard the movement and quietly opened a crack in the door to watch what happened.
What happened.
Zhao Ziliang, who was riding on a war horse, saw that there was no pedestrian on the street except for the soldiers standing guard.
He immediately frowned and asked: "Zhao Hu, there is not even a person on this street.
Have you ordered martial law?"
Zhao Hu, who was accompanying him, quickly clasped his fists and replied: "Back to the king, I have not ordered martial law.
After all, this place is close to the border.
For the safety of the king and to prevent assassinations, the ministers and others have not ordered the people here to welcome the king."
"Then why isn't there anyone?"
Huo Kan of the Eighth Legion said: "In recent months, due to the economic blockade of Dashi Country ordered by the royal court, the border pass not far to the west of Jiling City has been closed and no one is allowed to travel with it.
Therefore, Jiling City As the largest border trade town in the Southwest, The advantage is gone.
Many migrants who work and do business here have left one after another in the past few months.
Even most of the permanent residents have sold off their property at a cheap price and left.
Recently, news of the outbreak of the war has spread. , more people choose to leave this place at any time A city that may have been invaded by people from the Dashi Kingdom.
According to statistics from the Jilingcheng Prefecture, before the economic blockade, there were about 300,000 permanent and floating populations here.
After the economic blockade began, 200,000 people left one after another.
News of the war After it was passed on, about 50,000 more people left.
Therefore, there are only 50,000 people left in this huge city, and most of them are old, weak, women and children.
In addition, it is noon and the weather is hot.
The people are not willing to go outside.
It is much cooler to stay at home.
Therefore, Your Majesty It’s normal not to see many people on the street.”
Zhao Ziliang did not expect that the economic blockade would not only cause heavy losses to the Cannibals, but also cause a devastating blow to Jiling City, an important border town in the west of Western Qin.
But now that the matter has come to this, there is no need to consider whether it is worth it anymore. , if you want to change this situation, you must defeat the Big Food Country as soon as possible.
"Your Majesty, Huo Guoting, the prefect of Jiling City, is willing to let the prefect's palace be used as a carriage for the king.
He asked the general to ask what you mean.
Now that the prefect's mansion has been cleaned up, should the king go directly?"
Zhao Ziliang shook his head and said: "I'd better live in the military camp.
I'm here to fight, not to enjoy the blessings.
Tell Huo Guoting that I accept his good intentions and let him govern the people of Jiling City.
In addition, I told Huo Guoting He should pay more attention to the defense of Jiling City during the war, and work with the garrison generals to ensure the safety of Jiling City as the main storage area for grain and grass in the rear of our army.
Why didn't he come with you?"
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Huo Kan said: "Continuous heavy rains in the upper reaches of the Farah River in the past few days have caused the water in the lower reaches to surge.
The water level has exceeded the highest warning line and overflowed the river embankment.
Huo Guoting has been personally supervising the officials and the people on the embankment fifty miles away in the past few days to increase the water level day and night.
The height of the embankment, I haven’t come back for several days.”
"It turns out that the dam was not washed away by the river, right?"
Zhao Ziliang did not blame Huo Guoting for not coming to greet him.
"Not yet.
It is said that the embankment is very strong, but I didn't expect that the water level would be so high this year, far higher than usual, so the river water will overflow the embankment."
Zhao Ziliang nodded, thought for a while and told Huo Kan: "Send someone to tell Huo Guoting and ask him to come back when he is free in the next few days.
I want to know the condition of the river embankment."
Huo Kan cupped his fists and said, "I understand."
Arriving at the army garrison to the west of Jiling City, Zhao Ziliang gave up his rest and convened the senior generals in the army to discuss the military situation and deployment of military forces.
As for the accompanying army, the relevant generals would arrange the garrison matters.
Zhao Ziliang sat down at the head of the Chinese army tent.
An accompanying eunuch brought tea.
Zhao Ziliang took a sip and looked up to see another eunuch directing a dozen soldiers to carry a huge bronze ice mirror into the tent.
As soon as Bingjian was brought in, he felt cool.
The so-called ice mirror is a container used to hold ice cubes.
It is an ancient version of a refrigerator and also functions as an air conditioner.
Generally made of wood and bronze, they can be used to preserve food and dissipate air to keep the room cool.
The ice mirror made of wood and bronze will not rust and is easy to maintain.
If it is made of iron, it will rust easily, while if it is made of porcelain, it will break easily.
You must know that this thing is not small.
During this period of the Tang Dynasty, there was no ice-making technology at all.
In winter, it could be collected outdoors.
How difficult it was to collect ice in midsummer.
People had to go to the top of mountains thousands of meters above sea level to collect it.
It must be transported as soon as possible.
This is a waste of time and money.
Looking at the huge ice mirror that required more than a dozen people to lift, Zhao Ziliang suddenly remembered a poem by Du Mu, a poet from the Tang Dynasty in his previous life: "Looking back at Chang'an, there are piles of embroidery, and thousands of doors are opening on the top of the mountain.
Riding on the red dust concubine laughs, no one knows Here comes the lychee."
This poem reads.
In order to win Concubine Yang's smile, Emperor Xuanzong issued an order to transport fresh lychees all the way from Lingnan to Chang'an.
This poem is beautifully written, but it reflects how many people the emperor could tire to death with just one sentence.
What a waste of time and money.
Zhao Ziliang didn't want to be criticized by future generations for this kind of thing.
He said in a deep voice: "Who asked you to carry this in?"
The eunuch and a dozen strong soldiers carrying the ice mirror were stunned and stopped in place.
Zheng San walked in from outside the door and cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, this is the Bingjian.
Weichen asked them to carry it in.
You see, the weather is so hot.
It is not comfortable for Your Majesty to handle official documents and military and political affairs here, so Weichen went here."
I thought of this method."
Zhao Ziliang wanted to reprimand him, but thinking that Zheng San and others also had good intentions, he suppressed his anger and said harmoniously: "The soldiers are all living in such hot weather, and the common people are still enduring The sun is working in the fields, how can I sit in the cool tent with ice mirrors and enjoy it?
Moreover, I am here to lead the troops to fight.
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Yes, if you want to be comfortable, I will stay in Xinjing and not come out.
Why bother to come out and suffer your feelings?
I understand your wishes, but I don’t need to put it elsewhere first.
There may be some after a period of fighting.
Wounded soldiers are recuperating.
This thing may make them more comfortable while they recuperate, and it should speed up their recovery."
Zheng San cupped his hands and sighed: "Your Majesty is considerate of the soldiers.
After the soldiers know this, they will be more diligent in killing the enemy's intruders.
Take the ice mirror out and put it in the warehouse first."
Not long after, the generals came to attend the military meeting one after another.
Zhao Ziliang made some arrangements before the meeting with Liu Dan, Du Fu, Chu Ge and others who came first.
After the other generals arrived, the military meeting officially began.
Zhao Ziliang sat on the main seat and said: "Everyone is here, let's start now.
Let Chu Ge introduce the deployment of military forces in the towns on the border between the west and the Dashi Country."
Chu Ge stood up and walked to the Kanyu map next to him and began to introduce: "We have four main transportation arteries on the border with the Dashi Country in the west.
Each of these arteries has one or two important towns stationed with troops.
They are There were originally one thousand border guards stationed in Tashawuzi, Huoxun Prefecture.
The number of soldiers has now increased to 3,000; Charzhu in Anxi Prefecture originally stationed 2,000 border guards.
Because it is close to Mulu City, the capital of Khorasan Province in the Great Food Kingdom, Charzhu's strength has now increased to 5,000; Brigade Mastiff Wulahe in the prefecture originally stationed a thousand people, but now the number has increased to 3,000; Kun Duolejian City in Xuzhou originally had 2,000 voluntary soldiers, but now it has increased to 5,000; Farah City originally had 1,000 soldiers, but now it has increased to 3,000; and Jiling City originally had 3,000 soldiers and horses, but now it has 3,000.
Our two legions here in Zahedan originally numbered a thousand people, but now they have increased to There are two thousand people.
Kuhak originally had one thousand people, but now it has increased to two thousand people.
Pi Xin originally had one thousand people, but now it has increased to two thousand people.
In addition to the two standing legions in Jiling City, we are in Hua There is also the Fifth Army Corps in Sizimo.
This is our troop deployment in each city along the border."
Zhao Ziliang thought for a while and ordered: "Deploy some conscripts from other places and increase the number of Zahedan to 3,000 and Kuhak to 5,000."
Chu Ge agreed: "Yes, I will pass the order later."
"Let's talk about the situation of the food army."
Wang Can, the governor of the East Factory, stood up and clasped his fists and said: "This time Caliph Mansour is personally commanding the troops.
He is accompanied by generals such as Manhad, Zierzi, and Bingbo Xilin.
Among them, Bingbo Xilin has fought against our army many times.
Having experienced battles and being familiar with our tactics, our army has no choice but to defend.
Mansour has kept Boshilin in cold storage over the years, mainly to eliminate his influence in the Dashi army.
This time Mansour brought Boshilin with him. come out , mainly because Bingbo Xilin is most familiar with our army's fighting methods.
The Dashi Army has 10,000 troops in Guchang City and 5,000 troops in Mashad, 30,000 troops in Mulu City, and 30,000 troops in Herat.
There are 5,000 troops stationed in Kuska and Shulgaz, and 20,000 troops are stationed in Shulgazi.
At present, the Great Eclipse Caliph Mansur has arrived in Kerman, and the number of troops arriving has increased to about 50,000, and is still increasing. middle":