After daybreak, the Exorcising the Dragon Army left Dan Tonghai's and Xiahou Ningyuan's two battalions in Changhe as a strategic support force, then slowly withdrew south.
From the moment they started back, everyone clearly noticed a change in the wind.
Not some figurative wind, but the actual wind. The northeasterly gradually became an easterly, then finally a southeasterly. The ground was no longer frozen in the mornings, the soil gave off a scent brimming with life, and fresh shoots and migratory birds were everywhere.
But alongside the army, no one yet dared go out into the fields to farm.
So, while having the soldiers reclaim the fortified settlements abandoned earlier along their route, Zhang Xing also had them knock on every household's door in the villages... He remained excessively cautious about military provisions, so the initial relief included no grain. He could not bear to give away even a little old rice,
and wished these people would immediately go dig for wild greens instead, though he did provide some copper coins and weapons as assistance.
With Hebei devastated to this extent, expecting copper coins and iron implements to do much good in the short term was unrealistic.
The main purpose of this action was to dispel the common people's wariness. Anything given away for free was always good.
The day they arrived in Jiangling was the fifteenth of the first month. Zhang Xing was so busy that he had no intention of celebrating the Lantern Festival... He stopped here and issued a series of military and civil orders:
Leader Qian Tang was formally appointed acting administrator of Pingyuan Commandery;
Leader Zheng Ting was appointed acting administrator of Bohai;
Great Chief Chen Bin was appointed Hebei's Internal Affairs Commissioner for public security;
Bai Yousi was dispatched with the Dengzhou army, joined