The next morning, Ge Ding sent people to renovate the road at the entrance of the valley, and he led people to build a floating bridge on the Marine River. Qu Fengxing took his soldiers to understand the surrounding people's sentiments and sent people to Lushan County to inform the local area.

The sun rose high, and the frost on the grass and trees began to melt. A few horses rushed towards Lushan County and stopped by the river. A man in a military uniform shouted loudly on the horse: "The person who built a floating bridge over there is the Northern Expedition Army?"

Ge Ding looked at it and said, "You guessed it right, that's right!"

The man hurriedly dismounted and crossed his hands and said, "I wonder what army you are? Who is the general's surname?"

Ge Ding said: "We are the engineering troops who build bridges and roads, and we are walking in front of the entire army. Under the command of the engineering regiment, Ge Ding."

The man nodded: "So that's it. In Xia Cai Zun, I came to pick you up on the order of the governor of Cao. Because I lived in Lushan City, I missed it with you yesterday. I got the news today and rushed over."

Ge Ding was not slow to be neglected after hearing this, so he hurriedly ordered the ferry to pick up Cai Zun and his party.

Both sides saluted. Cai Zun asked: "Sanya Town is remote, is the ruler okay last night?"

Ge Ding said: "Thanks to a nearby official Kang Wai, who brought sheep to the army to work hard, and the whole army had a meal of meat. Who would have thought that there was no meat sold in a town. If it weren't for Mr. Kang Wai, we wouldn't be able to eat meat last night. We hadn't seen many figures on the Sanya Road for three days, so we were really panicked. They said that the road between Wanluo on the road would not have been so desolate."

Cai Zun said: "During the Tang Dynasty, Sanya Road was still very lively. The dynasty established its capital Kaifeng Prefecture, and the people who went north of Xiangyang changed to Fangcheng and Ye County. The road became more and more desolate. It is not peaceful now, and there are fewer business trips on the road."

Ge Ding nodded.

Cai Zun looked at Ge Ding's army and said, "Cao Du Tong ordered me to support the army here. I originally thought that you would stay in Lushan County, but there was no manpower here. The commander still ordered the soldiers to do things, and you can follow me to the county."

Ge Ding shook his head repeatedly after hearing this: "General, it's already evening when we get here. How can we spend a few more hours to go to the county town? Sanya Town is built here, so it's natural that it makes sense. You should be here to pick up the army, how can you go to the county town?"

Cai Zun said: "We tried it. We came out of the mountains and arrived here at about noon. We walked twenty miles to the county town and it happened to be dark. The commander asked the camping places along the road to build tents, and the passing troops would sleep when they came. When they left, there was no need to demolish the camping tents, just leave them to the next army. Sanya Town is too remote and it is not easy to supply supplies, so it was built in the county town."

Ge Ding said: "It was dark if you left the pass at noon, and it was already at the county town. Three or five people didn't think that it was such a light thing for an army to camp? Not to mention, the sixty-li Lushan Pass, for two days on the road, most troops could not leave the pass at noon. Needless to say, the army's camp must be located here. The supply of supplies is originally your local affairs, and it is just for recruiting people to transport them."

Cai Zun's official position is much lower than Ge Ding, so he dare not say much. But he muttered in his heart, how many people can he recruit in the entire county of Lushan? If he transports supplies here and adds other things, how many people will it take?

Ge Ding asked Cai Zun to sit in the camp and asked about the situation in Lushan.

Cai Zun said: "In recent years, there have been many officials. In Lushan County, there are only two magistrates and county magistrates. Because the army is coming, they are inspecting the local area, collecting civilians, and purchasing supplies. I am in charge of the place. There are so many things to do, and I hope the ruler will not be surprised if it is not there."

Ge Ding said: "I am the pioneer and I am the one who built bridges and roads. I am not talking about whether you do well or not. But I would like to remind you that Sanya Town is the first stop after the army came out of the mountain, and it is not easy to be careless. You'd better build a tent here as soon as possible and set up a warehouse."

Cai Zun complained in his heart.

According to the requirements, Lushan County should set up four stations for the army to rest. However, Lushan is a small mountain county, and after the war, the population was small and the supplies were insufficient, which was really difficult. The magistrate and Cai Zun discussed that they wanted to change to two stations, but the distance between the middle was longer. This forced the army to speed up in Lushan County and pass as soon as possible, so the local area would save a lot of trouble.

This is how things are. No matter how well the planning is, there are always various problems when doing it. Some problems are very big, and it is impossible to do it according to the plan. Some things are very small, and the solution is not complicated. No matter whether it is a big problem or a small problem, if you don’t find a way to solve it, things will be stuck there. Whether you want to solve it or not, how to solve it depends on the ability of a group.

Wang Xiaoli's envoy was considered rich. He was able to issue money by himself. In recent years, he began to see profits from a large amount of investment. Even if he did not increase taxes from the people, he was much more abundant than other places. During this Northern Expedition, the envoy issued money to the local government and asked them to ensure the march.

But what if the money is distributed here in Lushan County? There are so many people in the place, only so many supplies. The money is distributed, but it only pushes up local prices, and the supplies will not be transformed out. Grain can be transferred from other prefectures and counties. What about the others? The army needs to eat meat, fish, and oil, etc. to ensure nutrition. How can several officials become transformed out of thin air?

Ge Ding only brought one battalion of troops. As long as he stayed in Sanya Town for a few days, the sheep in the surrounding villages would be eaten up. At that time, no matter how much money he had, he could not buy meat, so what could the local officials do?

Seeing Cai Zun's face showing a difficult look, Ge Ding said, "If there are any local difficulties, you'd better report them in time. Don't have a large army coming, you have nothing here. If you delay the march, Jishou will never spare you!"

Cai Zun said: "The local officials and I are not fools. We have already reported it. The local supplies are insufficient, so we just sent more money to buy it. You have also seen, where can we buy it? There is no meat sold in Sanya Town, and there is only one meat stall in Lushan County, which only sells two sheep a day! How can tens of thousands of troops be supplied? There is really no way."

Ge Ding said: "If you can't buy it locally, just buy it in another place! Baofeng also wants to go to Dajun. If you don't buy it there, you can go to nearby Ye County! No, you can go to Xiangcheng! There is always a way!"

Cai Zun looked at Ge Ding, didn't say anything, but just shook his head.

Ge Ding suddenly woke up. This is a mountainous area. Not to mention the inconvenience of walking, how many sheep are there in Ye County? It supplies tens of thousands of troops, saying that it is a dream talk. In the entire Ruzhou, if all sheep are slaughtered, how long can it be supplied to the army?

Tens of thousands of troops passed by the place in this era, like locusts passing through the border, and the supplies would be consumed soon. The food and grass in the army could be prepared in advance. Could it be that they would bring everything with them? In the past, when the conditions were not good, Wang Xiao was able to hunt and march easily, just bring enough food. Now that the conditions are good, there are many more rules in the army. There are clear standards for eating meat in a few days, eating eggs in a few days, and how much grain and vegetables a person wants. Even if the local government does its best, it cannot achieve such standards.

Ge Ding was silent for a while and said, "If you have any difficulties, report them and make it clear. If the above does not solve them, it is not your business. But if you hold them here, if something really happens, you will not be able to escape! The campsites on the road are thirty miles apart, fifty miles, or even more than ten miles apart, and they are not casually settled and cannot be changed!"
Chapter completed!