Chapter 8 The sand in the desert is like snow, and the moon in Yanshan Mountain is like a hook (2)
There was a bit of wind and sand outside today, which made the livestock a little uneasy.
Zhe Zongben looked at the Dingnan Army brigade from a distance, his eyelids twitching, how different this was from bandits!
Shouldn't the officers and soldiers of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty arrive in large numbers, the Tu people obey and then give a few instructions? The team in front of them consists of tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, with bright armor and murderous intent. The women and children of the grassland are either sitting on the cart or stumbling.
On foot, they were all kidnapped. Look at the endless cattle and sheep in the back. How many tribes were wiped out?
Zhe Zongben even suspected that some tribes may have been killed before they had time to surrender. The strong men were killed, the women were killed, and all their belongings were lost. The beating was really cruel!
In fact, it is not uncommon for warriors in the late Tang Dynasty to go to the grasslands to hunt grass valleys. The most typical one is Youzhou Town. There are many prefectures, counties and villages north of the Great Wall. They go to hunt the Khitan grass valleys every three days, at most once.
Hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep were captured. Anyway, the Khitans often went south to Youzhou to plunder, so everyone just fought with each other.
The Tiande Army and the Zhenwu Army also did this, and the main objects of plunder were the Uighurs, Tuyuhun and Dangxiang. The most amazing thing is that there were many Uighurs and Dangxiang sergeants in their troops. Sometimes they went north, and familiar people in the area
The Tibetan tribe also went north to join in the fun, which makes people feel ridiculous. But if you think about it carefully, it seems natural.
Xia Suijun did this relatively rarely, but Marshal Shao probably did it for the first time in twenty years. As expected, he came from a group of lawless people in the Tiande Army, so he was familiar with the job and there was no pressure at all.
"Shao Shuai." Zhe Zongben dismounted and saluted from a distance.
"Uncle, why do you need to be so polite?" Shao Shude laughed loudly, stepped forward quickly, and returned the courtesy respectfully.
Zhe Zong was about to get off the donkey along the slope, but he stopped saluting and said, "Why is Shude so cruel? The grassland tribes can just make them fear and obey. Why do they need to go into such a big fight?"
"You must establish your authority." Shao Shude said sternly: "Shao has only been in town for half a year. Many grassland tribes have a wait-and-see attitude and are scornful. They don't take him seriously. He killed a few Tuoba lackeys who didn't open their eyes along the way.
If you speak again, more people will be willing to listen."
Zhe Zongben actually wanted to say that Tuoba's lackeys could also become one of his own. But the people have already been killed, so what's the point of saying more at this time?
"General Zhou." Shao Shude shouted.
"The end will be here."
"Let's have a rest today. Early tomorrow morning, we will send these goods back to Yinzhou. After completing the delivery with the Song governor, we will escort the grain and grass to Dijinze to find someone."
"As commanded."
"General Zhe, there is a shortage of goods in the state. I won't hide it from you. After these cattle are sent back, they will be rented to the people as official cattle for plowing. There are many fields in Sui and Yin states. I'd better prepare enough.
Twenty thousand oxen should be trained more to make them accustomed to plowing, so that they can do farming." Shao Shude said: "In addition, the court has cut off food and salary, so I have to find my own way out and find some rewards for the sergeants. These sheep
, they will all be rewarded to the sergeants in the future."
During previous research at Fan Yanbo's house, Shao Shude had already learned that the price of a cow was more than 3,000 yuan, and it was no longer useful after ten years of farming. The average "depreciation" cost per year was 300 to 400 yuan. He could buy 20,000 cows by himself.
Renting it to the people, they only charge a nominal fee of 40 yuan a year, which saves the people a lot. At the end of the ten-year use period, they basically save 3,000 yuan, which is almost the original price of a cow.
It is impossible not to collect money. This is the booty seized by the sergeants and cannot be given away for free. I can only rely on my prestige and shamelessness to reduce the rent to a reasonable level as much as possible to find some benefits for the farmers. Change the commander,
I'm afraid I still can't do this.
Zhe Zongben was silent after hearing this. This is true. It is not easy to be a military leader. Without food and pay, you have to be prepared to lose your head. The Dingnan Army has 23,000 soldiers and horses, and it must be maintained.
It was very strenuous and scary.
While the two were talking, several big and small men from Pang Qing's tribe came over and saluted respectfully.
Shao Shude was too lazy to talk nonsense with them, and he couldn't understand their language, so he folded the medicine and translated: "We will pay homage to the natural god general of the Tang Dynasty."
The word "Tian" is very important in the customs of the Dangxiang people and seems to be related to primitive worship.
The highest leader of the party was called "Wuzi", which means "Qingtianzi". They called the Song Dynasty emperor "Huangtianzi". In later generations, the highest official rank in Xixia was "Moningling", which means "Heavenly King", which is a metaphor for the supreme position.
Human ministers. Liu Fa, the general of the Northern Song Dynasty, repeatedly defeated the Xia army and was called a "natural god general" by the Xia people. Zhe Jimin shot an enemy chieftain with an arrow and prayed for "God's help".
Their customs respect heaven and earth the most, and everything they do must be praised by heaven.
Shao Shude didn't know much about party customs at first. He consulted a lot of people a few months before the expedition, and now he understands the concept of "born divine generals." Without adding heaven, just the word "divine general" is nothing. But born divine generals,
There is an extremely strong sense of praise and respect.
"You are all the people of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Since you are under the rule of General Zhe, it is inconvenient for me to say anything. As long as you pay tribute diligently and serve as a soldier, you can be safe," Shao Shude said.
"You should obey your orders."
Strictly speaking, the area where Pang Qingbu is located is at the junction of the northern border of Xiazhou and the western border of Linzhou. However, since they have already voted for Zhejia, they have to give face to their father-in-law. Pang Qingbu provides some cattle and sheep as supplies.
However, another five hundred soldiers were sent to follow the army to Dijinze.
He is temporarily powerless to deal with these nomadic tribes. As long as they are obedient on the surface, it is up to him how to manage them internally. Today's priority is still the tribes in Sui and Yinzhou. Those tribes are half pastoral and half farming, and more
It is easy to rule directly. After Tuoba Sigong is eliminated, some small tribes can find opportunities to slowly annex them, organize households and people, and enrich the state's household registration.
The larger tribes would win over them and make them pay tribute regularly and perform military service. In the future, they would find opportunities to instigate internal conflicts, causing division and hatred.
In short, one principle is that the big ones become smaller, the strong ones become weak, and finally they are digested and absorbed. The two states of Sui and Yin are destined to be the society, culture and system of the Han Dynasty. The two states of Xia and You can be ruled by a dual system.
model.
"General Pei, General Zhe mentioned just now that in a few days it will be the day when Dijin Zefan tribe will worship heaven. Will Tuoba Sigong come?" After the leaders of Pang Qing tribe left, Shao Shude found a temporary tribute artist.
Pei Shang asked.
After walking on the grassland for more than ten days, Pei Shang vaguely regained some of the feeling of fighting in the desert when he was young. He felt much better. Hearing this, he replied: "Your Majesty, this is a small sacrifice to heaven, once a year. Next year.
This is a big sacrifice to heaven that occurs once every three years. Even if Tuoba Sigong himself cannot come, he will still send his brothers to come. This is a big event."
Life on the grasslands is inherently very difficult. The prosperity and decline of pasture, the sustenance of cattle and sheep, etc., are almost entirely dependent on the sky, which is more dependent on God than farmers in the Han Dynasty. Tribes gather together to kill cattle and sheep to offer sacrifices to heaven, expressing
This kind of collective activity to worship the gods is held once every three years. However, in normal times, each tribe itself or several neighboring tribes will also get together to perform this kind of sacrifice once a year.
After the founding of the Xixia Kingdom, this kind of grand sacrifice to heaven was changed to once a year. The time was set at the end of the twelfth lunar month, which not only took into account the traditional festivals of the Han people in Xixia, but also gathered the leaders of the Dangxiang tribe, which was quite political.
There was no Xixia at this time, and the customs were still the rules passed down from the grasslands for thousands of years. The Huns, Xianbei, and Turks basically held it at the end of April and the beginning of May when the pastures turned green. The more particular ones were held once in the first month and September.
,three times a year.
"Your Majesty, since we have this meeting, why don't you gather your elite cavalry, advance furiously, raid the land in one fell swoop, and kill all these chiefs in one fell swoop?" Pei Shang suddenly suggested.
Dijinze is rich in water and grass, and there are many tribes living around it. When they collectively worship the sky, their defenses must be relatively lax. If they can launch a large-scale raid and capture the respectable tribal leaders in one fell swoop, it will indeed save a lot of money.
thing.
The heavenly soldiers of the Central Plains Dynasty liked to launch surprise attacks when herdsmen gathered. From the Han Dynasty to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, countless generals relied on this trick to kill all the grassland leaders. Pei Shang suggested that Marshal Shao also give it a try.
Shao Shude called Zhu Shuzong and Zhe Siyu.
"General Pei suggested taking advantage of the Dijinze Heaven Sacrifice Ceremony to make a surprise attack. Zong Bengong has 1,500 cavalry, and the accompanying vassal soldiers have 1,000 cavalry. We also have 1,000 cavalry. Pang Qing's tribe sent 500 cavalry, which is 4,000 cavalry. Now.
During the sacrifice to heaven, what do you two think of four thousand cavalry raiding?" Shao Shude said in front of the two of them: "If it is feasible, then I will discuss the details with General Zhe in a while, and you two will reorganize the troops.
Be prepared to attack. If this is not possible, then give up the attack, follow the large group of troops, and defeat the enemy in battle."
"Commander, what if the news has been leaked?" Zhu Shuzong asked.
"It is possible that it will be leaked. Then we can only wait for the large group of infantry to arrive and defeat them. Then openly declare their sins and make them obey." Shao Shude replied.
"In this case, the general thinks that he can lead his cavalry to try it. If the enemy is prepared, he will give up the attack and instead harass him to prevent him from escaping quickly." Zhu Shuzong was still very steady. The first thing he thought of was that he had killed so many people along the way.
Tribe, if news spreads and the raid becomes ineffective and turns into a forced attack, that will not be good.
Oritsugu Yu had the same general idea. Even in his mind, the news had probably leaked out. There are only a few fixed routes for marching on the grassland, and there are tribes living on these routes. Unless you start with a large group of cavalry,
One person, two horses or even three horses, with the intention of running quickly, otherwise their whereabouts will definitely be noticed.
The Tielin Army only has a thousand cavalry, and its main combat strength is infantry, so it is impossible to do this. The Dijinze Heaven Sacrifice Conference will definitely not be held. The leaders of each department do not have many followers, maybe only a few hundred people. As the master, Ma Nu
The army can only gather a few thousand soldiers at most, but most of them think that they are defeated. How long will it take if they don't run away?
On the other hand, this Manu tribe has its foundation in Dijinze, and it will not be able to escape for a while, unless it leaves behind its cattle, sheep, tents, and belongings, and runs naked to Youzhou to seek refuge with Tuoba Sigong.
In fact, this battle can still be fought. As long as the big Tuoba lackey of the Manu tribe is eliminated, the people's hearts on the grassland will change. This is an opportunity.
Shao Shude almost had the same idea. Although a lot of seizures have been made since sending out troops, overall they are still not very satisfied. Later, Xingzong of the Liao Dynasty attacked Xixia.
Still captured 50,000 cattle, 200,000 camels, and more than one million sheep.
This is called harvest!
The more than 100,000 cattle and sheep I have obtained so far are nothing! If I don’t accept more than 300,000 cattle and sheep this time, can I ask for the tax arrears over the years to be cleared? Youzhou Town goes to the Khitan people to collect taxes.
In Caogu, if you are lucky, you can collect hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep at one time. That is the Khitan, not a party that has not yet gained momentum!
Harvest cattle and sheep, make the grassland bastards surrender, and won’t give up until the goal is achieved!