The time came to the evening of the 10th day of February, with double moons like hooks, and the surrounding areas clearing up. By this time, the situation of the coalition forces was already very good, and it was not a small good, but a great good. Because on this day, not only reinforcements arrived one after another,

In addition, the soldiers and horses dispatched by different groups have achieved results one after another.

In Qinghe County, it can be called a continuous victory. The four counties of Linqing, Qingping, Qingyang, and Qingquan were quickly swept away by two groups of troops in two days. The mere thieves were no match for the established army of Dongdu. Linqing and Qingping were both in the same battle.

It was broken, but today, Qingyang and Qingquan simply fell in the wind.

After capturing the four cities, it indeed had the expected effect - while the Dongdu Army greatly reduced the military pressure on the encirclement by the Qingzhang River, it also relieved a certain amount of logistical pressure on the coalition forces.

It is said that the four cities have a lot of stored grain that they had previously transported for themselves, and the field soldiers who helped their subordinates were not willing to burn the grain even if they chose to flee, but they gave the coalition forces an advantage.

At the same time, the soldiers and horses of Wuyang County and Ji County also received good news.

First of all, here in Wuyang County, since General Bai Libenbai personally supervised the three armies and nearly ten thousand people came to protect the food, the food road immediately became smoother. Liu Heihuang, Hao Yide, Cao Chen and the thieves did not dare to move at all to transport food.

Efficiency has naturally improved, and Duke Yuanbao Cunyuan, the governor of Wuyang County, is far-sighted, proactively stepping aside and handing over the affairs of the county government to a boy;

Secondly, it is in the direction of Liyangcang. The news there has been verified. Although it was indeed an attack, there were no organized troops from Henan coming over. It was just a simple action by some experts. This is similar to the Thirteen King Kong at the camp.

The camp attack responded... In other words, these thieves are gone and have thrown themselves into a trap, and the Henan army has not crossed the river in large numbers, so the food road can be said to have no worries.

Of course, if the Henan thieves dare to come, General Bai and his subordinates, including everyone in Wuyang County, will be short of opportunities to make meritorious deeds.

After saying this, Dou Li looked around, and when he saw the local gentry and officials in Wuyang County present, they all nodded their heads and hurriedly paid compliments. He also felt that he was worthy of hosting a banquet to entertain these people.

I felt relieved.

Let's say that this place is not within the city, but more than ten miles northwest of Guixiang City, which is under the jurisdiction of Wuyang County. It is a town under the pleasant mountain. It is called the pleasant mountain town. Because it is next to the intersection of the official road, it is particularly prosperous.

It is precisely for this reason that a lot of military rations sent from Liyang to the coalition front lines were transferred from here, becoming a link on the logistics route.

In this regard, Dou Li, Dou Junjun, who was responsible for supervising the affairs of Wuyang County, of course wanted to come here for an inspection, and gathered the favor and power of the local big families to express his gratitude.

However, as the sky turned completely dark, everyone stopped talking about business, and the atmosphere of the banquet gradually reached a certain level. Dou Canjun, who was quite satisfied with the soothing effect, sat at the top and thought about it carefully, but after scanning the banquet,

I always feel like something is a little wrong.

After thinking for a while, the man suddenly came up and asked: "Are there any prostitutes in the town?"

Almost all the people present were stunned for a moment, but they soon realized that there seemed to be a shortage of prostitutes on this occasion. Dou Canjun's words were not abrupt. Therefore, several local wealthy people were arguing with those county officials who had followed from Guixiang.

After they looked at each other, they all shook their heads and replied:

"have no idea."

"do not know."

Dou Li couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and laugh: "If you have it, you have it, if you don't have it, you don't have it. It's better for you, I don't know... You are locals, how could you not know it? Or is it just such a trivial matter and you don't want to talk to me more?"

"Reporting to General Dou, I really don't know." The leading wealthy man hurriedly avoided the table to explain that his family was in the livestock industry, so naturally he did not dare to neglect. "Because as General Dou said, if you have it, you have it, and if you don't have it, you don't have it.

, There is no need to expose this kind of thing... I’m afraid everyone doesn’t know about it.”

Dou Li became interested instead: "This kind of town was founded because of transportation and commerce. It is close to the county but not within the city. There should be many prostitutes dancing and dancing, right?"

"Reporting to General Dou, it was like this before the Three Expeditions." The big man answered seriously.

"It disappeared immediately after the Three Marches?" Dou Li couldn't ask further.

"Reporting to General Dou, it is not that the Three Expeditions will be gone in one go." This local big man said carefully. "There were signs during the Three Expeditions. After the Three Expeditions were defeated, bandits were rampant in Hebei, and the big businessmen gathered in Wubao to protect themselves...

…At that time, the surrounding area was particularly chaotic. The life and death of the county guards were normal, and the whole county was in chaos. Tens of thousands of people were killed, and thousands were robbed and enslaved. Therefore, after several incidents happened in the surrounding areas, things like this

Markets and towns without shelter will disperse."

"I understand." Dou Li nodded knowingly, but his doubts remained. "But look at it now, things are obviously lively again, and you are back to do business again. Why haven't the prostitutes come back to dance and play?"

The big man wanted to speak but stopped.

At this time, the leader of the county officials who was first on the left and had been silent finally spoke. However, the Hucao from Wuyang County also avoided the seat before speaking, and was as respectful as if he was serving an officer: "Return to General Dou,

I'm afraid this matter has something to do with...the thief."

Dou Li suddenly understood: "Thieves forbid prostitutes. Your place was once assigned by them, so it was purged? Is this what Wang Hucao meant?"

"To be honest with General Dou, the thieves have not banned prostitutes, and so far they have not interfered in the affairs of this county, because it is really too late." Wang Hucao bowed his head and became more respectful. "However, since the thieves started, many

Release official slaves, redeem private slaves, and use this together with clearing acres of land and re-granting land, burning high-interest debt, protecting the treasury, distributing grain for relief, building foundations for young people, and creating a new land for thieves...

The thieves did not allow the trading of private slaves or official slaves, but also gathered the refugees, sent soldiers to farm, and resettled men and women. If they wanted to open a dance, music and prostitute house, they would be like water without a source or a tree without roots, because everyone would go there.

Well, we don’t dare to confront him here.”

"What Wang Hu Cao said is absolutely true." Another person in the local big family seemed to be familiar with the matter, and he quickly agreed. "Reporting to General Dou, it's not that there are no prostitutes among the thieves or that prostitutes are prohibited. As far as I know, the thieves in Henan

There are some prostitutes in the hometown, and there are also large-scale dances and music, but there are relatively few in Hebei; and in the counties downstream of Qingzhang River occupied by thieves, there are even fewer, and some are listed on their own with half-open doors.

Shan's family does not have a big yard, but we here in Wuyang do have a big yard; however, most of these prostitutes are inside the city, and few are outside the city... Therefore, General Dou asked suddenly, but we are confused...

No, let’s send someone to look for it?”

"What time has this happened? Just look for it." Dou Li waved his hands and seemed to have completely awakened. "I'm just surprised. You are so respectful and this place is so prosperous, but there is no dancing music... As a result, it turned out to be

The thieves tried their best to win people's hearts, but they accidentally affected the country... However, they have exhausted all their methods, so how can they be like the British Duke and give them a thunderous blow? Aren't they still going to be defeated?"

When everyone heard this, they quickly praised and echoed him again.

However, when these people lowered their heads to drink again, they couldn't help but look at each other... I don't know whether they were thinking of the gang's tyranny, or the scenes in the years before the gang came, whether it was nostalgia, fear, or confusion.

.

In this way, after the banquet was over and the banquet was over, several county officials also arranged for Dou Canjun, who was the supervisor of the army, to rest in a separate courtyard. Although the wealthy households were relieved, they did not dare to leave easily.

They all waited outside the door, preparing to check their vitals with the county officials before leaving, otherwise they would not be at ease at all.

After a while, the leader Wang Hucao came out, but his face was a little ugly: "He drank too much, and he still wanted to be a prostitute in his words."

In the dark night, with the lights outside the courtyard, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

"I just want it, where can I find it now?" Some people were extremely speechless. "It's not that I won't give it to you. I gave you a lot of money and flattery. How can I not find it for him? If he had just said that he wanted it at the banquet,

We are looking for it temporarily, and maybe we can find it now, but where should we look for it now?"

"Didn't we drink too much at that time to save our face?" Someone sighed. "Looking at it this way, it turns out that we didn't know what was going on."

"The key now is where to look?" Someone became impatient.

"Don't complain." The county household Cao replied with a dark face. "I have thought about it. Either I can search in several buildings in the city. It's not a problem if the city gate is closed. The county man has given me an explanation. I can call

He opened it, but he was afraid that it would be too late. By the time the prostitute in the city came, he would have fallen asleep drunk, and then without saying anything, he would come to us tomorrow to cause trouble in the county; or he would come to the house of a wealthy family in the town... Don't pretend to be pretentious.

, everyone in the seven or eight big hooks in this town knew where the people had dispersed and whose concubines they had become... When you came back, you didn't bring the people back? Now you just send the people here.

.”

Who sends it?

To whom?

Several big business owners looked at each other again and again, and some of them were quite anxious:

"Wang Hu Cao, you must be reasonable. Although the Gang has not taken over our Wuyang in a serious way, the trend has been changing in the past few years. In the past few months, it has even broken the window paper. Your government has learned to let the official slaves go.

, what else is there to do to build the foundation? We have also exchanged contracts with private slaves, and now the few in the family are serious concubines, why should we send them away?!"

"The gang has passed! Now it's the Taiyuan Army! It's the supervisory army of the Dou clan in Guanlong!" Wang Hucao gritted his teeth and lowered his voice to scold. "The army is pressing down on the border, and the people outside have gathered from the geographical area to transport grain for spring plowing. The county

The public is forced to hide in the backyard, who do you think you are? Do you really want to go on another three expeditions and take away all your food, young men, and livestock?!

"

The surrounding area immediately became quiet.

"You can just throw the dice and draw lots." After a while, the Cao from the household was still urging, stamping his feet. "Don't delay things!"

Several large households had no choice but to act on their words.

After a while, one person was chosen. The person was obviously unhappy, but looking around, he could only feel dejected. He turned around helplessly and followed the two county officials to fetch his beautiful concubine. Seeing this, the others relaxed a little, but there were many

Seems a little embarrassed.

"The world has changed." Seeing this situation, Hu Cao seemed to feel that something was wrong, so he had to turn around and try to comfort him. "Whether it's helping or the Taiyuan Army... Anyway, the world is changing. We are all small people, just drifting with the tide.

Don’t think too much about it.”

"Changes have changed, whoever wins helps whom, and who listens to whoever is in charge." An elderly wealthy man who had been following the crowd tonight finally couldn't help but said something. "But the trouble is, whoever helps is

To change in this direction, the Taiyuan Army is pulling in that direction... But people are human beings, not things. They have ideas. Once they are pulled to that end, they will feel that this end is unbearable; if they are pulled to this end,

On the other hand, I feel that the other end is unbearable; over and over again, I will only feel that everything is unbearable, and then people will be torn apart!"

"That's right." Someone else sighed. "Before the Three Expeditions, what's the point of giving a concubine to the Dou family's children? I even eagerly handed it over a long time ago. But now I feel, I feel..."

The words were not spoken, because Wang Hucao looked over coldly.

After a while, when they saw a satin carriage with lanterns hanging on it coming from a distance, everyone who had been silent felt relieved and finally dispersed.

The coalition forces were so powerful that Dou Can's army showed off its might in Wuyang County, which was considered the rear area. The next morning, that is, the morning of February 11th, someone in Qinghe County, which was considered a war zone next door, also showed off its power... The former Qinghe County

Captain Shi Huaiming, who later became one of the leaders of the Surrender Gang, and now took the lead in rebelling with the Cui family in Qinghe, was appointed by the British duke, General Bai Hengqiu, who was left in Taiyuan, to lead two armies.

Qian set off, and Yu Chenjian relied on his inner response to open the door and calmly captured Zhangnan City, his previous residence.

The news reached the Gangda Corps station at the junction of Qinghe River and plains on the other side of the river, and the whole place was shaken.
To be continued...