It is no exaggeration to say that with this formation, all channels connecting Zhangcheng to the north have been cut off. Unless the opponent takes a long detour, if you want to go north, you must capture this place.
With the support of Zhangcheng, the more than 200,000 Chinese troops had a solid base. More food and military supplies were transported to the city. Many nearby people who learned the news also came to the city. When they discovered this
With job opportunities and business boom, more and more people stayed here. Compared to other chaos in the South, this place is as attractive as a paradise.
In a short period of time, hundreds of thousands of Xiangzhou people who were wandering around came to Zhangcheng. Those who are willing to stay can stay. Under the propaganda of the Dahua Army, those who are willing to go to the land of Dahua will do so.
Register your identity, then wait for your land to be divided and move towards your new place of life, the place of hope.
As word of mouth spreads among these people, the reputation of the Dahua Army as a benevolent and righteous army and a people-loving army has also spread, which will also play a very good role in promoting and advancing the Dahua Army's liberation of the entire Xiangzhou.
...
The situation outside Zhangcheng was basically stable, and we were waiting for the foreigners to appear again to threaten the army. But in the north, the Huns army had already appeared, and was heading from outside Daliang City towards Pingcheng in the north.
Inside Daliang City.
The steady stream of Huns troops outside the city have been marching for seven days, but there is still no end in sight, causing people to panic.
In the palace, Tang Jia, who had become Emperor Qiande, asked Kong Fu with concern: "Kong Aiqing, didn't you say that the Xiongnu army had disbanded all the slave soldiers they had recruited? How could there be so many of them?
Soldiers and horses?”
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Xiongnu army only disbanded the slave soldiers recruited in Yuzhou. They had 400,000 slave soldiers who had not moved before. And after entering Jizhou from Yuzhou, they had already gathered another 200,000 slave soldiers.
and..."
Kong Fu seemed to hesitate to speak, which made Tang Jia feel very unhappy, "Kong Aiqing, what more?"
"And this time when the Xiongnu army recruited soldiers, they did not use forceful means, but used the idea of taking care of the food and returning the money. Many bandits and gangsters also joined them, plus some who had no food.
After eating the refugees, there are now another 200,000 people. After adding them to the 120,000 Xiongnu cavalry remaining before them, they now have 720,000 soldiers." Kong Fu knew that there were some things that he could just say.
It would be embarrassing to come out, but it was impossible to hide it at this time.
"What, bandits? Refugees?"
Hearing this, Tang Jia looked confused. This result was obviously beyond his expectation. Then he thought of something and said: "Kong Aiqing, are there so many refugees and bandits in Jizhou? They
Don’t you have anything to eat?”
"Hey, Your Majesty, that is exactly what it is. There have been frequent wars in the past few years. Either you hit me or I hit you, which has left a lot of fields barren. In addition, Emperor Qianying suddenly levied taxes for the next fifty years.
, the people were even more overwhelmed, and had to leave their homes and become homeless. As the location of the imperial capital of Daqian for a hundred years, Jizhou was originally very wealthy and had a large number of people. In addition, the chaos in the south was even worse. Now the people of Jizhou
The number of refugees in the country has already exceeded two million. It is really not a difficult task to only take one-tenth of them."
Tang Jia opened his mouth wide, as if he had suddenly realized something, and then couldn't help but curse: "Emperor Qian Ying, you are really a fool to increase taxes on the people like this."
After scolding Tang Qingchuan, Tang Jia said excitedly, "Kong Aiqing, even if there are so many refugees in Jizhou, then if we recruit them for our use, won't we be able to strengthen the strength of Daqian?" ?”
"Your Majesty is wise, our Ministry of War has already done this." Since Cheng Bolin quietly left Daliang, Kong Fu has also assumed the position of Minister of the Ministry of War. At this moment, he represents the Ministry of Military Affairs' stance.
"Oh, haha, Kong Aiqing is really my humerus." Hahaha laughed, Tang Jia seemed to be in a good mood, and then asked: "But I don't know how many soldiers the Ministry of War has recruited?"
"Your Majesty, we have recruited 100,000 people from the refugees. In addition to the troops stationed inside and outside Daliang City, we now have 400,000 troops." Kong Fu is considered a capable person, with numbers like this It came right out of the mouth, obviously it was remembered in my heart.
"One hundred thousand? Four hundred thousand?" Tang Jia couldn't help but frowned again, and then said as if thinking of something, "Why did we only accept 100,000 people? Aren't there more than one million refugees? Could it be? Can’t we find suitable mature men among them? Moreover, we only have 400,000 people outside Daliang City. Isn’t that too few? The Huns have 720,000.”
Although Tang Jia doesn't understand military matters, he can count!
Judging from the number of troops alone, Daqian seemed to be too weak. He had heard that Tang Ao's Hua army already numbered nearly one million, and even the Xiongnu army outside the city had more than 700,000 people. He only has 400,000 people. This is too weak and powerful.
When Tang Jia asked, Kong Fu couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Now he felt more and more that the person in front of him was not Ming Zhu.
For example, in times of chaos, one of the basic elements of a holy king is to know some military skills. This is no different than in times of peace. You can do whatever you want. Otherwise, how will you be able to rule the world and achieve unification?
But now when he looked at the questions raised by Tang Jia, he knew that he was just a young man in his twenties. He had everything he had now just because he was born well and had good opportunities. If Daqian had not been in chaos, this would only No matter what, some smart people will not be able to ascend to the throne.
He felt helpless in his heart, but his identity was there. Tang Jia was the emperor. If he wanted to ask questions, the ministers below were obliged to answer them. "Your Majesty, this is not how the accounts are calculated. If you want to build an army, you need to There are too many conditions, such as their expenses, equipment, food, clothing, housing, and transportation, etc. These all require financial resources, enough food, and enough iron tools to support them. But we are poor now!"
Taking this opportunity, Kong Fu explained to Tang Jia the daily life of the army, while crying about poverty and wanting to see if he could get some money.
As Kong Fu stood there and kept crying, Tang Jia's face became more and more ugly. Until after a while, he stopped directly, "Okay, I understand. I didn't expect to build an army." So many things are needed. Well, the current Daqian is a little poorer, and it seems that it can only develop slowly. Well, I am exhausted, so I will leave the specific military matters to Kong Aiqing. Kong Aiqing Ah! The internal minister is already old. Although his resignation was rejected by both his father and me, he has not been in court for a long time. This position is specially reserved for Aiqing. As long as this battle is won, If you win, this position will undoubtedly be yours."
After sitting there and drawing a big cake, Tang Jia stood up and walked towards the harem accompanied by the eunuch.
Does Tang Jia not understand military affairs? In fact, the teacher taught him this knowledge when he was a child, but because he had a very powerful father, Emperor Qianwen had a strong desire to control power. .This is especially true for military affairs. The generals he chose to lead the army were all loyal to him, so that none of the princes below could interfere in military matters.
Even Tang Xin, the prince who had been the prince for many years, couldn't do it, let alone Tang Jia, his son who was still very young at the time. But he didn't understand it at that time, and he should know it now, but he was helpless. It looks like, in fact, he still has some money.
Emperor Qianwen was so angry that when his old illness relapsed, he put him in prison, but he still had more than 20 million taels of silver left on his books. Later, Emperor Qianwen was killed in the palace, and his small treasury was naturally taken over by Tang Jia. That was nearly 100 million taels of silver, which Tang Qingshan had snatched after he came back from the mountain and saved it through frugality.
Tang Jia is now much cheaper. But after he came to power, not only did he not allocate one tael of silver to the treasury, but he also transferred ten million taels from there, saying that he wanted to hold a grand funeral for his father. But In fact, the funeral after Tang Qingshan's death was very simple, not even 500,000 taels were used, and he withheld the rest.
Tang Jia loves money, and he also believes in the charm of money.
In his opinion, only by holding this money in his hands can people listen to him, and he, the emperor, will have more power. So if such a person can use money to subsidize and build an army, then It's almost impossible.
Kong Fu looked at Tang Jia's leaving figure and bowed respectfully. He was a little disappointed in his heart. He had been able to make some extravagant money, but it seemed that he had no chance. But fortunately, at least he got a future minister. The promise already made him very happy.
As for whether he can win the battle, Kong Fu is not a man who knows the military. He only looks at the superficial numbers and is full of hope. In his opinion, the Huns army has more than 700,000 people, and even the flat city is all made of steel. , it should be possible to capture it.
Speaking of the Xiongnu army, in the temporary royal tent outside the city, Huyan Gaizheng was discussing with some Xiongnu generals and Wei Qianer about attacking Pingcheng.
The breakout from Shaanzhou put them in a bad situation, and they had to restart the idea of pacifying the city after suffering heavy losses.
It seemed that everything went well from Yuzhou to Jizhou, after arriving at Daliang City, and the vanguard was not far from Pingcheng. But everyone knew very well that it was not their fault that this road went so smoothly, but Because there was chaos in Daqian, the emperor had just been changed, and the new emperor was timid and didn't want to cause trouble.
And the smoothness of this journey does not mean that the attack on Pingcheng will be smooth.
