Ready for war

Author: Gongsun Wujiu

Ready for war

I saw it written on the linen cloth: "The names of seven or eight things. Judging from the names, they should all be some kind of plants."

Mani carefully put away the fine linen cloth, turned to Zhang Yue and said, "The previous ones are fine, but this white folding bag is of no great use. I wonder why Ming Gong is looking for it?"

Zhang Yue did not answer directly, but asked instead: "When you were living in Dawan, did you ever see body poison cloth in the market?"

Mani raised his hand and said, "I've seen it before. The cloth is very soft, red and blue, not like silk and linen. Our caravan buys a batch every year."

Zhang Yue asked again, "Do you know what the body poison cloth is made of?"

Mani said: "It is said that there is a kind of tree in Shendu. Its flowers are as white as snow and softer than wool. Shendu cloth is woven from the flowers of this tree."

When he said this, he stopped, and after a while he suddenly realized and said in surprise: "Could it be that this poisonous cloth is made of this white fold?"

Zhang Yue put his hands on his hands and laughed and said: "Yes, the body poison cloth is made of this white fold."

Mani said: "This servant will understand, but Ming Gong, this poisonous cloth is far inferior to the cloth of the big man. I don't know what Ming Gong's magical use is!"

Zhang Yue looked at Mani and said, "You don't need to worry about this. You can find these things."

Mani said: "My Lord, please rest assured, as long as the goods can be bought and sold in this world, the Sogdian caravan will definitely be able to find them."

Zhang Yue nodded with satisfaction and said: "I won't let you work in vain. I will trade you for some things with twice the weight of gold."

Mani said: "Ming Gong is too polite. These are just small things. We don't need gold. We just have a small thing to ask Ming Gong."

Zhang Yue said: "I don't know what it is. Please tell me and listen."

Mani bowed and said: "Nowadays, a large school is being established in Luntai City. I would like to send my son to Luntai to study. I would like to ask for your permission."

Zhang Yue originally thought that Mani wanted to ask for permission to enter the Jade Gate to trade. He did not expect that he would actually ask for his son to be sent to Luntai.

Although he said he came to study, the other meaning was to send protons to Luntai.

Zhang Yue stared at Mani expressionlessly for a long time without saying a word. Mani was smarter than he originally thought.

Mani, who was being stared at by Zhang Yue, felt as if there was an invisible pressure from all around him.

This invisible pressure made him feel suffocated and frightened.

"Hahaha!"

Zhang Yue suddenly laughed and said, "Since you have such a plan, why shouldn't you do it the wrong way?"

Zhang Yue actually originally planned to refuse, but then he agreed.

Because his original purpose of opening the school was to promote Chinese culture in the Western Regions through education.

Mani sent his son to study, so that through him he could gradually spread Chinese culture to the Sogdians.

Mani was overjoyed and thanked him, "Thank you so much, Ming Gong..."

Zhang Yue laughed and said, "We are all a family now. As long as we work well for our Han family, the benefits will inevitably come from you..."

After speaking, Zhang Yue called for a guard. When the guard came in, he was holding a box in his hand.

At Zhang Yue's signal, the general handed the box into Mani's hands.

Mani took the box and looked puzzled.

Zhang Yue smiled slightly, "Open it and take a look!"

Mani opened the box in confusion and found a copper seal inside.

When Mani saw the copper seal, his calm state of mind after decades of training suddenly broke.

He imitated the Han people and fell to the ground excitedly, "A servant pays homage to his master and is willing to die for his master..."

In the blink of an eye, it was already April of the second year of Tianhan.

The first season of wheat grown in Luntai was finally harvested, and a full 40,000 shi of grain was put into storage, making everyone smile.

The 20,000 acres of newly reclaimed fertile land have also been planted with corn. It is now estimated that Luntai can harvest at least 100,000 stones of grain and 130,000 stones of wildflowers this year. In addition, 10,000 stones of soybeans can be harvested.

According to the rules of the Han army's farming, half of the grain goes to the soldiers and half to the public.

In this way, the amount of grain that Zhang Yue can control will reach 70,000 shi. In addition to supporting his 700 soldiers, he also has 60,000 shi of remaining grain.

With this food, he can not only easily complete this year's reclamation task, but also start his next plan.

Because of the abundant food, Zhang Yue recruited 400 Yicon again.

As for the original two hundred Yi Cong, after half a year of literacy education, half of them had completed the task of being literate for 500 and became regular soldiers of the Han army.

By mid-April, Zhang Yue had completed the reorganization of the Han army in Luntai.

Now the Han army in Luntai has expanded to 1,000 regular soldiers, divided into two parts: left and right.

The left song is for cavalry, and the right song is for infantry. The left song is directly commanded by Zhang Yue, and the right song is directed by Li Si.

In addition to the main soldiers, there is also Yi Cong. The military prince of Yi Cong is Guo Kai.

Although there are cavalry and infantry in the three songs, because there are enough horses, every soldier is equipped with a war horse.

In terms of large weapons, the wheel platform now has 12 bed crossbows and 8 trebuchets.

In addition, there are more than 2,200 young men in Luntai who can go into war.

These young and strong men have undergone rigorous training. Although their combat effectiveness is not as good as that of the regular soldiers of the Han army, the gap is not big.

With such a powerful army, Zhang Yue was confident that he would get a share of the upcoming war.

According to later records, Li Guangli left the fortress from Jiuquan in May, and later defeated the Xiongnu Youxian King tribe at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, beheading thousands of people.

During the retreat, food and grass supplies were cut off due to the betrayal of the Loulan Kingdom, and they fell into the siege of the Xiongnu, Cheshi, Pulei, and Shanguo allied forces.

Later, Zhao Chongguo led more than a hundred dead soldiers to fight to the death, and finally managed to break through the siege and return to Dunhuang.

However, the Han army also suffered heavy losses in this battle, with nearly 20,000 casualties, most of which starved to death due to insufficient food and grass supplies.

After this battle, the furious Li Guangli originally wanted to directly destroy the betrayed Loulan Kingdom, but unfortunately, His Highness the Crown Prince stopped him in the end.

The emperor still has great expectations for the prince, and in order to maintain the prince's status, he chose to support the prince.

The blood of more than 20,000 Han soldiers was shed in vain, but the treacherous Loulan was not punished in any way.

Instead, he received a reward from His Highness the Crown Prince. This also made the military officials begin to become dissatisfied with the Imperial Crown Prince.

In order to avoid the recurrence of tragedies that occurred in history, Zhang Yue had been preparing for this from the day he came to the Western Regions.

Although the prince has always appeared in the history books of later generations as a sympathetic character.

But in Zhang Yue's heart, he always believed that His Highness the Crown Prince's tragedy was actually his own fault.

Although he showed great kindness to the people around him, the harm he caused to the empire and the people of the world was irreparable.

No fewer than 100,000 people have died due to His Highness the Crown Prince's "merciful" heart.

No fewer than 100,000 Han soldiers died needlessly because of his "mercy".

…

In May of the second year of Tianhan, the emperor officially ordered Li Guangli to send troops from Dunhuang to attack Hu.
Chapter completed!