On the twelfth day of the seventh lunar month, after three days of rest, Xun Yu knocked on Liu Heng's door." My lord, look at the expenditure of the prefecture since the construction of Hanyang City. It's almost as much as the income. The expenditure of the treasury has exceeded the income for two consecutive months. In addition, the extermination of the bandits and the dispatch of troops a few days ago consumed nearly 300,000 yuan. There are only 1.5 million yuan in the treasury. In my opinion, should we slow down the construction speed?”
Liu Heng put down the pen in his hand and sat in front of Xun Yu.""The outer city of Hanyang, the government office, and the Military Governor's Office must be completed before the autumn harvest in September. The other residences and shops can be built slowly.
There was no need to worry about money and food. Zhao Feng would keep sending them over. Now that the major workshops under the prefecture were working at full capacity, he believed that the finances would gradually improve.”
"Why does my lord insist on completing the outer city of Hanyang by September?" Xun Yu asked in confusion.”
"Last night, Wu An sent a secret report," Liu Heng revealed a mysterious expression. The Wuhuan would definitely come this year to plunder and replenish their supplies!”
Xun Yu was a little surprised." My lord, you look calm. You must have a countermeasure?"”
Liu Heng smiled and walked to the door.""It's exactly the same as what Duke Xun thought of last year, but…"
The busy and hot August passed in a flash. A few summer rains moistened the wheat fields, indicating the beautiful harvest in September.
Liu Heng spent his days shuttling between the prefecture, the construction site, and the barracks, dealing with all kinds of complicated situations and preparing for the possible looting of the Wuhuan.
Although the weather was hot, the progress of the project did not slow down. By the end of September, the outer city wall had been completed. The streets, water supply, and drainage channels in the city had been laid. Some merchants who had obtained permission had also built their own shops at the same time as the city wall was built.
Looking at the tall and majestic Hanyang City standing on the vast plains, Liu Heng knew that he finally had a foothold in the chaotic Eastern Han Dynasty and had his own foundation.
The scouts deployed at the border of western Liaoning had never found any signs of the Wuhuan gathering their forces.
Liu Heng insisted on the principle of not moving if the enemy did not move. He only let the new army be on standby and ready to attack the Wuhuan at any time.
The entire September was surrounded by a joyous atmosphere. First, the outer city of Hanyang was completed. The people who had never left Liaodong felt proud to see such a magnificent county city for the first time. This was something they could not see in their dreams, and it was built by their hands.
Hanyang City was the largest city in Liaodong and even Youzhou.
The residents of the city were decided by drawing lots, and it was held in an open environment. Even the aristocratic families had to decide by drawing lots.
Those who drew were ecstatic, while those who didn't could only be dejected.
Many rich families took this opportunity to spend a lot of money to buy the right to live with the people who won the lottery. The big families also exchanged places with the ordinary people.
After some adjustments, the residential area in Hanyang City was divided into three sections: The wealthy merchants, the great clans, and the ordinary people. Then, the winners happily followed the officials into the city to confirm the location of the house.
Secondly, the good weather allowed the farmers to have a bigger harvest than last year.
With the implementation of the new tax law, farmers only needed to pay a small portion of the grain tax. For the first time in many years, the family had enough food for the entire family for a year.
Third, the elected officials at the grassroots level worked diligently. Not only did they repay the support of the electorate with their achievements, but they also became a solid link between the county government and the people. The administrative efficiency was many times stronger than before. The various results that they had seen and experienced personally also made the new law more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Just as Liu Heng was celebrating the harvest with the people in Hanyang City, a fast horse galloped into the city gate.
After Liu Heng saw this, he left Xun Yu to gather with the representatives of various industries and returned to the Military Governor's Office. At this moment, all the lieutenants had arrived and were looking at the map to discuss strategies.
Seeing Liu Heng enter the room, Ju Shou said,""My lord, we just received a military report. The scouts have discovered two groups of Wuhuan soldiers heading south into western Liaoning.”
Liu Heng nodded and signaled for everyone to not be too polite. He strode to the map and asked,"Where did you find it? Who was the commander? How many soldiers?"
Ju Shou replied,"They are near Lulong Ridge, 150 miles north of Lingzhi. Judging from their flag and attire, they should be under Wu Yan."
The vanguard consisted of five thousand cavalrymen, and the main force had yet to be investigated.
However, based on past experience, the main force this time should be around twenty to thirty thousand. Lingzhi and Feiru counties had already started to strengthen their walls and clear the fields according to the plan. The wheat that had not been harvested was burned, and those that could not be taken away were buried on the spot.
In addition, the county government also sent county soldiers to help the surrounding villagers escape into the city. Those who were slightly further away were told to bring food to the nearby areas for temporary shelter.
The other group appeared in the area around Willow City and Rong City. It was believed that they were under the command of Su Puyan, an old friend who had come last year. The vanguard of three thousand cavalrymen had already taken down Willow City.”
Liu Heng frowned." Su Puyan, you old fart. Either you don't say anything, or you give me a headache!"
He didn't want to follow the old path of Bintu and Changli, but came from Liucheng. He had to learn from crabs and walk around.
Wu Yan also wanted to join in the fun and follow Su Puyan around. Sigh! The prefecture had to pay another sum of extra expenses, and Duke Xun was going to complain again!”
Everyone was amused by Liu Heng's witty words, and the tense atmosphere immediately relaxed.
But only Gao Shun was unmoved, his expression still solemn.""According to the speed of the Wuhuan cavalry, the vanguard of the Wu Yan Tribe will only need a day to reach the city of Lingzhi and Feiru, and Su Puyan will need less than two days. In Liaoxi and Youbei, there are only five regiments of the new army stationed in different places. The closest to them are Yang Le's Heavy Cavalry Regiment 1, Xu Wu's Light Cavalry Regiment 2, and Heavy Infantry Regiment 2.
Liu Ping's two infantry regiments would need two days to arrive at Bintu to set up defenses.
Our army is at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, and we don't know the direction of the Wuhuan's main attack, so it's hard to make targeted arrangements.”
"Yes!" "Commandant Wei," Liu Heng snorted and asked Wei Hong,"you're familiar with Liaoxi. According to your experience, where is Wu Yan most likely to attack?"”
Wei Hong pondered for a moment and deduced,"Order! There were two reasons. First, the branch was a transportation hub. It was connected to Feiru in the east, Xu Wuhe in the west, and Beiping Prefecture in the right. It was connected to Haiyang and Yangle in the south. If they captured this place, they could use troops everywhere to facilitate their plunder.
Secondly, Ling Zhi County was much larger than Fei Ru, with a large population and a large grain production.”
Upon hearing this, Liu Heng actually smiled. He thought of the successful tactic of Nurhachi, the founder of the Later Jin Dynasty, who also started in the northeast. I'll only go one way!
"Gentlemen, I have a method that I wonder if it will work?”
"Please speak, my lord!"
"The four tribes of the Wuhuan have always advanced and retreated together, but after Su Puyan's incident last year, I believe there must be a rift between them."
Although they are still sending troops together as usual this year, I think it is very likely that they will be united on the surface but separated on the inside.”
Everyone nodded or pondered, listening quietly.
"Although the two sides of the enemy are attacking aggressively, they are not without flaws. In the battle last year, Su Puyan had suffered heavy casualties in western Liaoning, and he had also been ambushed and plundered by the Xianbei. Not only had his strength been greatly reduced, but he had also become even more vigilant than before.
If that was the case, they would have to leave enough troops to guard against the Xianbei's attack, so they would not have enough troops to invade the south…
Thus, Su Puyan chose to attack Willow City first. He could put on a show for the other three, or he could preserve his strength and wait until the soldiers of Liaoxi Prefecture and Wu Yan's army fought to reap the benefits.
From this, it could be inferred that they only needed to send a small force to disguise as a large army to stall for time with Su Puyan. Presumably, Su Puyan also hoped so.”
"My lord's analysis is exquisite, yes!" Qiushou praised. It seemed that he could temporarily ignore this journey.”
"Then how should we deal with Wu Yan?" Sun Hong asked. His soldiers have been resting for an entire year."
"What else can we do?" Liu Heng laughed. He had to force it! We'll try our best to gather our forces and fight a tough battle. We won't care about victory or defeat for now. We just need to display the aura of a new army so that he won't dare to underestimate our Great Han Empire again.
After Wu Yan had retreated, if their strength allowed, they would return to kill him!”
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