At this time, the army had gathered in the city. The small Chicken Crowing Post was already full of soldiers. Ming Destiny's army was divided into two types: the military guard station and the military barracks. The border army was the military barracks. General He was in charge of five city secretaries, each commanding one thousand one hundred and twenty people. The total number of soldiers in the city had reached five thousand six hundred. Whether in manpower or morale, they were above the Tatar army.
Just now, if they had taken advantage of the Tatar army's panic and unpreparedness to send the vanguard soldiers straight into the center to disrupt their formation, then the army could have attacked from both sides. At least half of their men and horses would have been lost. Unfortunately, they had missed a good opportunity. It was really regrettable.
Registrar Wang lived near the government office. Originally, he had carried County Magistrate Min and the village gentry to organize the people to escape. However, he saw the army rushing in from the north of the city. Naturally, the original plan could not be carried out. He first sent Lord Min back to the government office and was rushing back when he met Yang Ling and Registrar Wang.
Yang Ling and Registrar Wang rushed over on horseback. Yang Ling did not know how to ride a horse, but in order to save time, he braced himself and got on the warhorse. Although the horse was not galloping, the jolting made his legs sore and his waist felt like it was about to break.
As soon as he saw Registrar Wang, Yang Ling hurriedly told him that he was temporarily going to be the acting post chief. He humbly asked for advice and got the gist of it. Then he immediately rushed to the post chief's office.
The Post Minister's office was a five-way chain of courtyards made of bricks and wood. The building complex was extremely large. The outermost courtyard was the post house, and the second was the post warehouse. The post school and barns were further in. As for the post minister's office and living quarters, they were in the last courtyard.
After receiving the military order from Registrar Wang, the post chief's office was temporarily put under the control of Yang Ling, who was forced to do something beyond his abilities. The Chicken Crow Inn was too small and did not have a dedicated treasurer. Thus, the Inn Deputy Deputy also took over the duties of the treasurer. There were six small officials under Deputy Deputy Ma. Four of them were responsible for the affairs of the Inn Deputy, and the other two were in charge of the treasury.
Just now, in the battle on the city wall, the defenders suffered heavy casualties. Out of the six minor officials who went up to the city wall to assist in the defense, only four were alive, and one of them was seriously injured. There were only three people that Yang Ling could summon in front of him. All three of them had burnt faces and had not had time to wash them. Although they were not like Yang Ling, who looked like a kitchen god, they were enough.
Yang Ling ordered them to tidy up a few of the best houses for the three daren to live in. He also ordered them to clean up the storerooms and store rations and fodder. He also ordered them to check the rations and fodder they received on the spot and register them. He then organized the couriers to distribute them to the various camps.
After he was done with his instructions, he looked around and recalled that this was where Deputy Ma usually worked. He couldn't help but sigh. Speaking of which, the two of them were really fated. He had only arrived at the Chicken Crow Inn a day earlier than him, and it was because of his family's lawsuit that he became acquainted with the county magistrate and found a position to make a living.
However, Deputy Ma had only been in office for a little more than a month before he died here. He, who was prepared to die at any time, was still alive. The affairs of the world were really hard to predict. Yang Ling thought to himself, "Should I go see the Ma siblings? They should know about Daren Ma's death by now. I should go see them."
However, right now, the military supply camp's carriages and horses were arriving in an endless stream. He and a few of the minor officials were busy contacting the officials, receiving the rations and fodder into the warehouse, calculating the supplies of the various armies, and arranging the military supplies of the various camps. At this time, they had no time to offer their condolences.
Besides, Deputy Ma had just died and he had replaced him as the deputy. If in front of the Ma siblings, a group of courier messengers and minor officials constantly came to ask for instructions, perhaps the Ma siblings would feel even more uncomfortable. Thus, after thinking about it, they could only drop the matter.
The movement of rations in and out was complicated enough. Yang Ling could not understand why the rations, which were less than ten days old, were placed in the military camp. Moving them around so frequently was a waste of manpower and resources. Even if it was to ensure that the lifeline of the army's supplies was in the hands of the civil officials, it was too much of a waste of time and energy. Even if it was to ensure that the lifeline of the army's supplies was in the hands of the civil officials, it was too much.
He was as busy as a spinning top, riding his horse and escorting the rations to each city gate to make arrangements. When he passed by his house, he hurriedly jumped off the horse, wanting to go back and change into a robe. The one he was wearing was really muddy.
When he jumped off the horse, Yang Ling felt that his legs were as light as a feather, as if he had just come off a boat. Because he didn't know how to ride a horse, the inside of his thighs were rubbing against each other, causing him to feel uncomfortable walking. He was afraid that Young-niang would feel distressed when she saw him, so once he entered the door, he slowed down his steps, appearing more natural.
As soon as he entered the door, he saw Han Youniang wearing a blue floral apron, sitting in front of the stove making dumplings. When she saw her husband coming back, she was like a happy magpie, greeting him happily. Her red face was filled with joy.
There was a smell of stuffing in the air. Yang Ling sniffed it. Hmm, it was the feeling of home, the feeling of warmth. Seeing some flour on Han Youniang's cheeks, a touch of gentleness and affinity quietly appeared in his eyes. Now, he increasingly liked seeing her look both childish and gentle.
He saw that there were already four neat rows of dumplings on the pot lid, looking like little white ingots. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "You, I told you to go home and rest. Just make something to eat and that's it. Why bother making dumplings?"
Han Youniang helped him take off the dirty robe and sweetly said: "Husband, today is the New Year, how can you be careless? This is … this is the first New Year we will celebrate together."
Yang Ling was startled. This day and night of danger made him forget that today was the first day of the New Year. The first New Year's Eve of the Ming Dynasty was spent with Young-niang. Looking at Han Youniang's face full of happiness and sweet smile, his heart ached. This is the first New Year's Eve, will I have the luck to spend the second New Year's Eve with you?
He was afraid that Han Youniang would see his expression, so he quickly turned around and picked up a robe. As he put it on, he said to Han Youniang: "Hmm, I really forgot. Later I will go buy some food and wine. When I come back, we will celebrate the New Year together and make up for the New Year's Eve."
Han Youniang crisply agreed and said: "The new robe I made for husband is on the kang, waiting for you to come back to change."
"Oh," Yang Ling said and hurriedly went outside. He jumped on his horse and rode back to the southern part of the city with the two couriers. There were two battalions of soldiers and horses stationed outside the southern part of the city. Right now they were burying pots and cooking rice. The trees that were cut down from the mountains were damp and difficult to burn, so thick smoke rose everywhere.
When they arrived at the top of the city wall, they found out that Magistrate Huang and Commander Jiang had accompanied several officials to the Swan Goose Restaurant to eat. The craftsmen who were repairing the city gate had also rested. Yang Ling saw that there was nothing else to do, so he turned around and left with several low-ranking officials.
Ever since he had eaten a meal in the morning, he had been running all the way until now. He was so hungry that his chest was sticking to his back. Although he had gradually grasped some of the essentials of riding a horse, he still felt that riding a horse was much more difficult than walking. His entire body had to use up all his strength, he was exhausted and his mouth was dry.
He saw a well by the side of the road, so he jumped off his horse and used a wooden wheel to lift a bucket of water from the well. The water was clear, and there were transparent pieces of ice floating in the water. Yang Ling scooped up a handful of cold and sweet well water and gulped it down happily. The cold well water entered his stomach, but the sweetness stimulated a faint pain in his stomach. He took a few deep breaths and simply washed his face with the well water. Standing up, he stretched his waist and breathed out the white steam. His wet hair instantly became stiff.
At this time, a dozen or so fast horses galloped over from the barracks outside the city. Because the horses were moving too fast, when they saw the people standing by the well wearing the uniform of the courier office, the leading general hurriedly reined in his horse. They had still galloped for more than a hundred feet before they reined in their horses and turned back.
Yang Ling looked in surprise at the general who was surrounded by the soldiers. This man was about forty years old, thin, and had a dark complexion. He had a wisp of beard, but on closer inspection, his cheekbones were too high. His triangular eyes, which were more white than black, somewhat ruined his scholarly temperament.
His expression was cold, and it was clear that he was suppressing his anger. When the warhorse was in front of him, he arrogantly lifted the reins and held the horsewhip in one hand. He looked down from above and asked, "You are from the courier office?"
Yang Ling rubbed his hands, which were red from the cold, and asked, "Who is this general? What business do you have? "
The personal guard next to the general shouted, "Impudence! This is our Bi Du Si. Hurry up and reply! "
When Yang Ling heard that this was a fourth-rank general, he didn't dare to be impudent. He hurriedly straightened his body and cupped his hands, saying, "I am this county's acting courier office. What business does the general have?"
Hearing this, the general waved his horsewhip. The tip of the whip whistled sharply and passed by Yang Ling's ear, scaring Yang Ling so much that he quivered and caused the personal guards to roar with laughter. Yang Ling was enraged. He suddenly raised his head and glared angrily at the city secretary. He saw the city secretary grit his teeth and say with a cold smile, "You are just a small courier office. How dare you. I led the army to rush through the night and saved nearly ten thousand people of the Chicken Crow Inn. Now you want my soldiers to starve. How preposterous."
Yang Ling saw this general's domineering attitude and was originally enraged. But after hearing these words, he couldn't help but be startled. His anger immediately dissipated. He frowned and asked in doubt, "How is this possible?" He turned his head to look at the still wide open south city gate and pointed at the rising smoke. "I have already ordered the courier office to distribute the rations. There is clearly smoke from the chimneys outside the city. Why do you say we have to starve?"
Bi City Secretary's face was ashen as he sneered, "That is Sun Dazhong's military camp. The people under me, Bi Chun, are also soldiers of the Great Ming Dynasty. Up until now, only half of the officers in the army have been given rice. As the saying goes, even the Emperor does not send soldiers who are hungry. Could it be that your Chicken Crow Inn wants us to go into battle on an empty stomach?"
A thought quickly flashed through Yang Ling's mind. "Embezzlement?" When he left the post office, he had personally gone to look at the storehouse. The rations that had been escorted over had filled at least two storehouses. It was enough to supply the five thousand soldiers for ten days. Who would be so daring to embezzle so arrogantly, and during a time of war? How daring.
At this moment, he even had the intention to kill. His face turned green in an instant. Yang Ling suppressed his anger and cupped his hands at the Bi Dushi. He said word by word, "Sir, this is your humble servant's negligence. I hope that you will forgive me. Sir, please immediately send the army cooks to the post office. I will rush back to the post office now and personally distribute the rations. "
A minor official beside him had been quietly tugging at his sleeve as if he had something to say. Yang Ling ignored him and only stared straight at the city secretary.
Hearing Yang Ling's words, the harsh lines on the city secretary's face slowly eased. He stood up and stared at Yang Ling with his triangular eyes for a moment. Suddenly, he asked, "What is your name?"
Yang Ling said, "I am the acting post office of Chicken Crow County, Yang Ling."
The city secretary nodded and sat up straight. He chuckled and said, "Good, good acting post office Yang Ling. I will remember this. Qiu Dapeng, quickly catch up with Guan Shouying. Tell them to behave themselves and not to steal the rations. Just say Post Office Yang is going to open the storehouse immediately. I will return to the main camp to wait for your news. Hahahaha … "
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