In the old garden of Cao Wei in the northwest of Luoyang, a hunting operation with a military tone is coming to an end.
Shao Xun pulled over 70% of the troops of the four Silver Spear Army and half of the Long Sword Army. A total of two thousand sergeants shouted loudly in the mountains, forests and pastures, advancing and retreating together.
Even some of the confidants of the Forbidden Army also came, such as Huang Biao, Yu An, Zhang Gu, Wu Qian, Qin San, Zheng Dong and others.
They had been in the army for more than 10 years, and each of them had developed a number of cronies, hundreds of whom came from all walks of life.
In addition to the more than a thousand villagers from Jinguyuan, Shaoyuan and Panyuan, there are nearly 4,000 sergeants gathered here - the villagers usually farm the land and collect grain for Shao Xun, but during the winter leisure time,
It is still necessary to pull it out and practice.
"Lang Jun, both of the soldiers with silver spears and long swords have iron armor, which is almost the same as the three thousand men under Wang Bing's command." Huang Biao said while skillfully preparing the prey.
He is really envious.
The generals in the palace are led by mostly light-armored sergeants.
It’s not that they don’t all have a pair of iron armor, but they are really very few. Among the more than five thousand people, there are three to four hundred pairs of armor that can stand up to the sky. The rest, at least one-third are without armor, and the rest are wearing other kinds of armor.
.
To put it bluntly, the 20,000 people led by the four palace generals are the main force of the Chinese army in terms of numbers, but not in terms of strength.
Wang Bing is the tiger general in the middle, leading the forward battalion of the right guard, with 3,000 heavily armored infantry, many of whom are veterans of the Chinese army. This is the real main force of the Forbidden Army.
Huang Biaoting looked down on Wang Bing, but who made him the descendant of Wang Lang and Wang Situ?
"Wang Bing came back from Hongnong years ago." Shao Xun, who was also roasting his prey, said casually: "He worked really hard there, guarding the fort and making the enemy unable to do anything. When the thieves retreated, he even went out of the city to pursue them.
Made progress."
If you make progress, others will also make progress. After all, even the emperor has progressed from listening to toads to eating toads. Nothing remains the same.
"What's the use of Wang Bing's advancement?" Huang Biao said disdainfully: "Isn't it just that he has a good family background?"
"Nothing is set in stone." Shao Xun said: "Follow me and you will have a chance. Our group will one day be successful."
It is extremely difficult for a military and political group dominated by people from the bottom to rise in this world.
They can only occupy places where the gentry is not strong, or where the gentry was originally strong but was later severely weakened. Only these two places can provide opportunities for them who are struggling to get started.
Shao Xun saw clearly.
If Sima Yue asked him to be the governor of Yingchuan now, he would not be able to do it, and he might not even be able to collect taxes.
It would be better to be the governor of Xiangcheng, because the power of the aristocratic families there is relatively weak.
But no matter what, he had no choice.
We can only try to unite some gentry, attack other gentry, and then create a new class through the designed political and economic system.
At least Chen Yougen, Huang Biao and others were very interested in the cakes painted by Shao Xun.
Obtaining benefits by establishing military merit, regardless of origin, is the only choice for Chen, Huang and others.
In terms of fundamental interests, it is difficult for them to betray.
In addition to fundamental interests, it must also be maintained by personal feelings.
Shao Xun handed a piece of roasted meat to Huang Biao and said, "I've been busy all morning, so let's rest on my belly first."
"Thank you, Sir." Huang Biao wiped his dirty hands on his uniform, took the plate, and said.
Cheers came from not far away.
Shao Xun looked over and saw that someone from the Long Sword Army shot a fox on Pegasus.
"Come here!" Shao Xun shouted.
"Mr. Lang, please give me your instructions." Tang Jian went hunting, and Wu Qian was next to Shao Xun.
"That's all, I'll do it myself." Shao Xun wiped his hands, walked to a carriage, took out a piece of brocade, and took it into his hand.
After a while, the knight with the long sword rushed over, dismounted and offered the prey, saying: "I offer this to the general."
"You are the leader of the team, Chang Can, right? You are indeed a good boy." Shao Xun said with a smile: "How can I seize the prey you catch? Are you used to living in Yushanwu?"
When Chang Can heard this, his voice became choked up and he said: "The general has invited a doctor to see the patient, and he is much better. My mother-in-law has always asked me to die for the general."
"What is immortal? Bad luck." Shao Xun laughed loudly, stepped forward to pull Chang Can up, and said: "I am the most important warrior in my life. Remember, warriors do not need to kneel down in front of me. In the future, we will be rich together, and we will die together."
Never mention it again."
Shao Xun picked up the prey, looked at it, and said, "Share the meat with the boys and let them all eat together. You can take the skin back with you, and you can make something for your mother. If it's not enough, come to me."
After saying that, Shao Xun put the piece of brocade on Chang Can again and said, "I'll reward you. Get on the horse and walk around for everyone to see. In my place, warriors should be rewarded heavily, regardless of their origins."
"
Chang Can wiped away his tears, put on his brocade, got on his horse, and galloped around triumphantly.
Others looked at it and were jealous.
That piece of brocade looks very precious and valuable. It is not available in silk shops and has never been sold.
Chang Can, a long-standing thief, could actually get high-end goods only available to noble officials from aristocratic families. How could this not be enviable? Everyone immediately worked bravely and competed for the first place. The birds and beasts were unlucky.
Shao Xun laughed.
He likes to see this. Although warriors like money and beauty, they also need to be respected and recognized.
In these troubled times, it is the most unbelievable thing to treat warriors harshly, but it is still the norm.
People are emotional animals, and warriors have more temper and character. Rewarding them with money and making friends with them are indispensable.
"General, if you want to march westward, do you really want to take them with you?" Wu Qian followed Shao Xun and asked softly.
"Not only them, but also the Silver Spear Army. Do you think you can train good soldiers through drills alone?" Shao Xun asked rhetorically.
After all, Wu Qian had been in the army for many years, so how could he not know it? He just couldn't bear it. Just listen to him say: "The long sword army is just that, they are all desperadoes who lick blood with their blades. Is there any silver spear army?"
Many new recruits..."
"A mix of old and new soldiers, not all new recruits." Shao Xun said: "I only lead a group of people, supplemented by four hundred sword warriors. The training is ultimately fake. Even if they form a formation to perform martial arts, the soldiers know that it will not be real.
But the Western Expedition is different, it is a real fight. Even if it is not their turn to fight, as long as they go there, they will gain something."
Commonly known as feeling the atmosphere of the battlefield.
In training, it is difficult to achieve this effect. But in the real battlefield, even if you just stand there and don't get your turn to fight in the end, the psychological tempering cannot be underestimated.
Of course, the reasons don't stop there.
Thinking of this, Shao Xun felt a little sad and despised himself. Before, he had thought that if Sima didn't take the initiative to let him go, he would definitely not go. But when the matter came to pass, he also gave in in the face of reality——
He now wants to rob property and add to his family's small business.
The three major estates, Shaoyuan, Panyuan, and Jinguyuan, made great efforts to recruit refugees last year, occupied the abandoned civilian fields, and cultivated vigorously. However, in the final analysis, there were only more than 1,100 households, and they produced more than 60,000 dendrobium of grain in one year.
Raised 524 livestock of various sizes.
But these three estates are machines for stably producing grain, much better than Yunzhong, Kinmen, and Tanshan Sanwu - these three estates only produced more than 65,000 hu of grain throughout the year and raised 392 livestock.
But making ends meet is not enough.
However, Yushanwu is an exception.
This is a mature Wubao. Although it is a bit dilapidated, the fields and ditches are ready-made. Last year, a group of refugees were sent there. Together with the people who donated their money from Yangdi County, there are now more than 2,700 households.
, producing just over 100,000 hu of dendrobium, and 590 livestock.
The Silver Spear Army still has 721 cattle on hand, and the Long Sword Army has more than a thousand horses and mules - most of which have been returned to the people of Luoyang.
If you don't count the weapons and cash (silk, money, gold and silverware), the above are almost Shao Xun's main assets.
A rough calculation shows that the food gap last year was at least 200,000 hu of grain. After taking into account the more than 70,000 hu of grain that was stolen from Hongnongwu Baoshuai, we still owe a lot of debt - the finances have deteriorated so much.
, is not unrelated to his active efforts to recruit refugees.
In the end, they could only pay off the debt with money, silk, and thousands of weapons seized from Liu Qiao and his son, and it was not enough. They also used tens of thousands of grains from Liu Qiao's troops seized on the battlefield to fill in the deficit, which almost wiped out the deficit.
The few remaining resources were used to purchase some materials for the preliminary construction of Jinmen Pier this year.
Fortunately, both Sandayuan and Yushanwu planted overwintering wheat after last year's autumn harvest, and can plant a season of miscellaneous grains after the summer harvest. This year's food gap will be greatly reduced, provided that no new refugees are accepted.
But how is this possible? There was chaos in Yuzhou, and countless refugees flocked to Henan County. Shao Xun couldn't control himself at all, and tried every means to win over them.
He even recruited this year's student soldiers, mainly from the Liang Kingdom of Yuzhou, which was deeply ravaged by the Xianbei. A total of 155 teenagers aged ten to fifteen will be placed in Jingu Garden to study, train and work.
Therefore, no matter what considerations he had, he had to make another fortune.
A horse will not be fat without night grass, and a man will not be rich without windfall.
There is no way, careerists are like this, always troubled by financial problems, because their desires are too strong.
Since we are going to Guanzhong to make money, there are some things that cannot be done by the imperial army, so a private army is more suitable.
Anyway, these days there are too many people who lead private armies to fight for their lord. If Shao Xun leads a thousand men into battle, no one will say anything. On the contrary, they will praise him for his loyalty and bravery.
After the hunt was over, everyone sat together happily, roasting meat and making soup, and had such a good time.
The newly recruited sergeants slowly integrated into this new group.
With money to take and meat to eat, isn’t it much better than in the past?
In February, Shao Xun visited Cao Junsi twice and drank and gossiped with a group of neglected shogunate officials.
During this period, he also invited Wang Hu, Duan Liang, He Lun, Wang Bing, Chen Jin, Miao Yuan and other generals of the Forbidden Army to have a banquet to further deepen their relationship.
He did not forget the old subordinates of the Kingdom Army in the past, and took the opportunity to arrange a few meals.
The whole of February was spent eating and drinking like this, and it was not without gain. At least his friendship with the generals of the Forbidden Army had further deepened - at least on the surface.
In the third month of the third year of Yongxing (306) - the emperor did not change his reign this time - in March, Shao Xun led his troops to guard the palace. It was also at this time that he received news that Sikong led more than 10,000 troops north to Luoyang.
Emperor Sima was indifferent and only subconsciously felt a little uneasy, but it did not affect him from eating the cake.
Queen Yang Xianrong is like the female beast that was forced into a corner, with all the hair on her body exploding.
One year and seven months later, Sima Yue will finally return to the center of power in the world.
Luoyang is likely to usher in a new round of political reshuffle.
Chapter completed!