ps: Thanks to I Am a Poor Man and Book Friend 1022 for their monthly tickets and encouragement.
After eating so much, several Hedong officers patted their bellies with satisfaction. Li Dou burped, then looked at Li Xiaoxi apologetically, and said slightly embarrassed: "General Li, your army's food is very delicious. A certain person enjoyed his meal very happily, but made General Li laugh."
Li Xiaoxi forced a smile on her face and said haha: "What are you talking about? I'm being polite, I'm being polite." But his heart ached like blood. Damn it, these officers from Hedong haven't had a meal in how many days. I'm sorry. Just one chicken and two legs of lamb, how about this meal? Is it easy for me to transport some live animals from Hebei?
At the moment when his heart was aching, Li Du wiped his mouth with his head, coughed again, and said to Li Xiaoxi with a shy face: "General, I wonder if there are any difficulties for your army during this trip? Please feel free to tell me, someone who can help. You must try your best!”
Li Xiaoxi said "Ah", thought for a while, and said: "Everything is still fine. Your department has provided great convenience. There is no difficulty for the time being..."
Li Dutou's face changed color and he said hurriedly: "General, there is no need to be polite. If you have any difficulties, you must speak up. Lulong Hedong is now a family. A family does not speak the same language. It is useful to get something. Don't be polite." !”
Li Xiaoxi looked at Li Dutou inexplicably, and then looked at several Hedong officers who were eating and drinking, and said without knowing why, this really doesn't happen... Li Dutou quickly continued to insist with eagerness, saying that this really can... …
One of the Hedong officers finally couldn't help it and said to Li Xiaoxi, "General, I am idle anyway, why not help your department do something within my ability. This is also a reflection of the close friendship between the two families. General Li should not shirk it anymore." Yes, if you shirk it any longer, it will chill the hearts of the brothers!
Then Li Xiaoxi finally understood. She pointed at Li Dutou and other Hedong officers and said: "Oh..."
The Hedong officers breathed a sigh of relief.
Li Xiaoxi made some calculations silently. He hired five hundred people for this trip. Each person was paid a monthly salary, which is one thousand five hundred guan. Plus two meals a day, according to the price of food in Hebei, it would take about three months. One thousand guan, the total expenditure is about 2,500 guan. This is the expenditure under normal circumstances. If the civilian husband is injured or killed, the pension expenditure will not be small. He has set aside one thousand guan for this.
Li Xiaoxi's security forces have to pay for these expenses out of their own pockets. Of the 18,000 guan for combat expenses allocated by the General Administration of Military Staff, only 15,000 guan will actually fall on the security soldiers - of course. This does not include rewards for meritorious service.
If the civilian husbands are sent back now, and each person pays the usual severance pay, I wonder if the remaining food and expenses can be used to hire these Hedong Army? If the Hedong Army can be hired, I am afraid the effect will be even better than that of the civilian husbands. They can also be a helping hand on the battlefield at critical moments. You must know that the Hedong Army often competes with the Xuanwu Army, and their combat effectiveness cannot be ignored. Even if they are given the treatment of the security army, it is very cost-effective to eat three meals a day.
Li Xiaoxi tentatively said: "There is something I need to do now. I wonder if your department can help me?"
Li Dutou and other Hedong officers immediately put their necks together: "General, it's okay to say it!"
"Now that we are about to enter the battlefield, I want to return the civilian husband to Hebei, but I am worried that there is no one to transport the baggage..." Li Xiaoxi carefully explained that after all, he asked the Hedong Army to do the civilian husband's work. It is indeed disrespectful to say it.
He saw the eyes of the officers in Hedong moving wildly, looking at each other for a moment, not knowing how to communicate with their eyes for a while. Li Du nodded and gritted his teeth and asked: "But I don't know how the civilians eat?"
When Li Xiaoxi saw that there was a way, she quickly said: "That's it, a common man has two meals a day to satisfy himself..."
Li Dutou and other Hedong officers exclaimed in unison: "Two meals a day!? The general is saying that civilians... have two meals a day?"
Li Xiaoxi was afraid that the other party would be dissatisfied, so she quickly added: "Well, this is the food of the civilians. In fact, X's subordinates eat three meals a day... Of course, if your department is willing, you can also eat like X's..."
Before he finished speaking, the officers in Hedong exclaimed in unison: "Three meals a day?" After exclaiming, the officers in Hedong nodded like chickens pecking at rice. Li Du took the lead and responded: "General, so-and-so
Wait till it’s done!”
Li Dutou's crisp and joyful reply immediately blocked the rest of Li Xiaoxi's words. What Li Xiaoxi didn't say was - a monthly salary, is that okay?
Therefore, Li Xiaoxi was a little in disbelief and said suspiciously: "In addition to food, I wonder if your department has any other requirements?"
Li Dutou shook his head like a rattle: "No more, no more. As long as I can have three meals a day, I will be satisfied." He was afraid that General Li would give up his plan to use him because the conditions were too high, so he added
He said: "From today on, whenever something happens, just follow General Li's orders. I will definitely do my duty and handle this job properly!"
Li Xiaoxi was so happy that she patted Li Du on the shoulder and praised the Hedong Army for being so cheerful. Then he asked, "I wonder how many troops your department can send?"
Li Dutou said simply: "Five hundred! We will make up for as many people as the general lacks! Hedong and Hebei are all members of the same family. It is enough to leave a hundred or so people to look after the family in Dongyangguan!"
Li Xiaoxi asked again, you helped me transport the baggage, and you have to obey my orders when you get to the battlefield, but you don't know how to explain it to your general Li Siyuan?
Li Dutou smiled and said, this is a trivial matter. If Dongyang Pass is not lost, we will not be guilty. As for obeying your department's dispatch-we are all fighting against the Xuanwu Army, aren't we?
Li Dutou and other Hedong officers laughed and explained, and Li Xiaoxi understood immediately. What Hedong was doing was still dividing the territory. The territory around Dongyang Pass belonged to Li Dutou. In other words, Li Dutou was a subordinate of Li Siyuan, the military leader.
A small army leader who retains considerable independence.
Li Dutou's military duty is to guard Dongyang Pass. As long as Dongyang Pass is still in Li Dutou's hands, Li Siyuan can't do anything to Li Dutou. Unless Li Siyuan re-issues an order requiring Li Dutou's troops to be merged into the Luzhou camp,
Of course, Li Dutou can lead his men to Luzhou for food. As for the military armor supplies and food that will be consumed, Li Siyuan will be responsible for it.
In the midst of laughter, Li Xiaoxi's tent was full of joy. Li Xiaoxi was happy because he had saved a lot of money, while the officers in Hedong were very happy because they could have three meals a day.
An officer from Hedong noticed that General Li was in a good mood. He took the opportunity to ask if the three meals a day could be the same as those of the Youzhou Brigade. His question was mainly about eating meat. In response, Li Xiaoxi waved his hand cheerfully and said:
Of course, since the Youzhou brigade eats meat, they cannot let the brothers from Hedong eat soup.
Then there was another burst of cheers. Li Dutou was inspired by the Hedong officer just now and continued to question Li Xiaoxi, saying that if he encountered the Xuanwu Army, just in case, just in case, because Li Dutou believed that General Li's army must be highly capable.
If General Li's troops are too small to support him, he can lead his brothers to resist. Will there be a reward at that time? Can the heads of the Xuanwu Army beheaded in exchange for more rewards?
Li Xiaoxi was even more happy. He got 500 troops for nothing. Wouldn't it be a waste if he only used them as civilian servants? So he expressed openly that he would be rewarded with a first-level reward for beheading!
Li Dutou twisted his head and said, "Can you not exchange reward money? Can we exchange it for food?"
Li Xiaoxi once again used his little abacus in his mind to calculate the price of transporting grain to Hedong, and then agreed: "Okay, I will reward you with one stone of grain for two levels of beheading." In this way, he can save about two hundred for each level of beheading.
money.
Li Du and other Hedong officers were immediately knocked unconscious by Li Xiaoxi's generosity. Li Xiaoxi thought he had made another profit, but in fact he had made a huge loss. According to the practice of the Hedong Army, the reward for first-level beheading is not copper coins or cloth, but
It's an extra meal - an extra meal for the first level of decapitation. The difference is more than ten times!
After resting for a day at Dongyang Pass and repatriating the civilians back to Hebei, Li Xiaoxi announced to break up camp and continue westward. This time, the pushers were replaced by the Hedong Army guarding Dongyang Pass.
After leaving Dongyangguan, the mountains gradually became gentle, and after crossing the Zhuozhang River, we entered the Shangdang Basin. Hedong is located among the mountains, and the basin is a plain, and it is also the grain production area and densely populated area in Hedong. There are two places in Hedong.
The plain basins border the Xuanwu Controlled Area. One is the Shangdang Basin in the Qinshui River Basin, and the other is the Jinzhou Basin in the Fenshui River Basin. The Shangdang Basin is in the east, and the Jinzhou Basin is in the west, separated by the Taiyue Mountains.
They can all extend north to the Jinzhong Plain, which is the only way to Jinyang and the main attack direction of the Xuanwu Army.
In the second year of Tianfu, the Xuanwu Army gathered 200,000 troops to attack Hedong, with the main attack direction being the Jinzhou Basin in the west.
The main battlefield of the Hedong Round Battle planned by the General Administration of Military Staff is in the Shangdang Basin in the east.
The Shangdang Basin spans Zelu Prefecture from north to south. Luzhou in the north is still under the control of the Hedong Army. Li Siyuan's main force is located in Luzhou City (later Changzhi). Zezhou in the south has fallen to Xuanwu before the first year of Tianfu.
When the emperor moved the capital to Luoyang, in order to protect the safety of northern Luoyang, King Liang transferred He Delun and Hou Yan's troops from the Qingqing battlefield. They are now stationed between Gaoping and Zezhou City (later Jincheng) in Zezhou.
Shangdang guarded the right throat of Jinyang. The situation was very dangerous. It was an important road from the south of Henan Province, and it was also the only way for Xuanwu to go north. The two armies faced each other across the Danzhu Mountains that stretched across the basin, forming a stalemate.
The marching direction of Li Xiaoxi's Youzhou Brigade was the Shangdang area of Luzhou. According to the agreement between Lulong and Hedong, the Lulong Army's Shangdang camp was stationed at Shihoubao in the south of Luzhou.
Shangdang refers to Luzhou City and its surrounding areas. The Battle of Changping between Qin and Zhao took place here. Changping is located southwest of Shangdang.
Under the guidance of the guide sent by Li Siyuan, Li Xiaoxi passed through Luzhou City and then arrived at Shihou Fort. After taking over Shihou Fort, he began to prepare for war in accordance with the orders of the General Administration of Military Staff, waiting for the arrival of the follow-up army. (To be continued.