On March 27, Li Siyuan ordered the generals of the Xin Dynasty who had come to attend the funeral to return to town, inspect their troops, equipment, money and food, and make books and send them to Jincheng.
Yin'anzhi commanded Chu Shenping to drive all the troops into the city and successfully took over the defense.
Shao Shude personally presided over the ceremony. After Li Keyong's body was placed in the coffin, he discussed with the Liu family and decided to suspend the funeral for five days. The third day of April was an auspicious time to lift the coffin and return to Daizhou.
Before that, he took advantage of the favorable opportunity to handle some important matters, such as——
"What are your plans for the future, sister-in-law?" Shao Shude asked kindly.
He is now very cautious. When meeting his sister-in-law Liu, he always takes Li Xiji, the deputy envoy of Hedong Jiedu, with him to avoid being gossiped about.
Li Xiji's body doesn't seem to be very strong either.
He was extremely obese and usually ate a lot. Unlike Shao Shude, who often practiced martial arts, hunted, and played polo to consume energy, he had severe symptoms of the three highs.
Li Keyong's death was another heavy blow to him, so his spirit was as weak as a candle in the wind, and the fire of life would be extinguished at any time.
He should also be aware of his physical condition. But he is still busy with Hedong and Li Keyong's death, and his loyalty is touching.
Li Keyong is very good at uniting his subordinates and has a unique personality.
"Uncle, do you have any plans?" Mr. Liu looked sad, as if he was no longer interested in anything.
Shao Shude pondered for a moment and said: "I have a house in Luoyang, which is pretty good. My sister-in-law may live there. My wife has always missed my sister-in-law very much, and she often said that she would play arm-in-arm with her."
"Uncle can arrange it," said Liu.
"Then it's settled." Shao Shude smiled and said, "My nephews and nieces will also live together. It will be lively and lively."
Ms. Liu forced a smile.
It's not that she is dissatisfied. In fact, the Shao and Li families have good relations, and she has contributed a lot. But in this miserable situation, she really doesn't have much interest in everything.
In addition, even if you have anticipated this outcome in advance and have prepared yourself fully mentally, when things come to a head, fluctuations in your mood are inevitable.
Hedong can no longer provide her with protection. From now on, everything will depend on the charity of the Shao family.
"There is one more thing." Shao Shude looked at Li Xiji again and said, "Wu Zihua, the governor of Hedong Road, passed away just now. In the important town of Hedong, the maintenance cannot be left open for a long time. I wonder if Deputy Ambassador Li would be willing to accommodate?"
Wu Zihua is Wu Rong, and he can be regarded as one of the early literati who defected to Shao Shude. He wrote poems very well, but failed the exams many times. Later, he realized his enlightenment and stopped taking the exams, and joined Shao Shude, who was in urgent need of employment at the time. He started as a county magistrate.
He was promoted step by step, and finally reached the position of governor of Hedong Road, where he died in his official residence.
In history, Wu Rong was ups and downs in the big dye vat at the end of the Tang Dynasty. He encountered repeated military turmoil, was demoted out of the capital several times, and lived in exile. He only lived at the age of fifty-four.
In this time and space, I had been an official in Yanzhou and other places for a long time. My life was stable and my mood was comfortable. I actually lived for three more years.
Human destiny is really closely related to the environment.
"I thank your Majesty for your kindness." Li Xiji agreed directly without much hesitation.
He knew that this position was given by the saint to calm people's hearts.
He also knew that with his own health, he might not be able to work for long. He wanted to refuse, but thinking about his family, his close friends, and the surviving family of King Jin, he felt that it would be good to make a transition in this position.
.
Things that should be arranged in advance should be arranged in advance, so as not to leave the village without this store.
"With Sanlang's help, people in Hedong will be at peace." Shao Shude said happily.
"I am determined to live up to your Majesty's high expectations," Li Xiji replied.
He knew that the governor was not given for free. No, the saint had already made conditions.
However, this matter is not difficult to do. As far as the civil servants in Hedong are concerned, there is nothing wrong with belonging to the new dynasty. Maybe they can get rid of the long-term oppression of the warriors and feel proud.
After solving these two major issues, Shao Shude felt much more relaxed. Next came the more difficult military issue.
******
On March 29, Shao Shude summoned Li Siyuan and formally began to solve the problem of surrendering troops in Hedong.
Li Siyuan arrived quickly after receiving the order.
As the military and political leader of the Xindai area, he has been staying in Jincheng Town recently and is very well-behaved.
Shao Shude is also very satisfied with his performance.
Or it could be that Li Siyuan was an emperor and was very ambitious and might rebel. But Shao Shude felt that except for a few people who were "ambitious" from the beginning, most people just drifted with the tide in troubled times, and their ambitions followed their strength.
Growing step by step - let me ask you, among all the warriors in the world, which one has no ambition?
Therefore, just use it, no need to be suspicious.
"How many soldiers and horses are there in the Xin Dynasty?" Shao Shude took a pair of whale skin armor from the soldier and asked while looking at it.
This whale skin armor is quite heavy and seems to have good protection.
The reason for the heavy weight is that the cuticle of whale skin itself is relatively thick and hard.
Whales in the ocean often don't know how many "hitchhiking" creatures are attached to their bodies because their skin is too thick and hard for them to feel.
The quality of the leather armor made from such a material is quite good, and because of the considerable buffer layer, it has a certain weakening effect on blunt damage. In addition, Shao Shude also had many iron pieces nailed on it, which is also effective against chopping.
Pretty good protection.
Thinking about it carefully, it seems to be a bit like cotton armor. The weapons inspector made more than a hundred sets in total and sent them all - in fact, the cost of this thing is very high, it is also rare, and it is destined to be only used as a "toy"
.
"There are still more than 30,000 people." Li Siyuan replied.
His eyes were also attracted by the whale leather armor. Because this leather armor was really thick, could it be made of five layers of cowhide?
"More than 30,000..." Shao Shude said in an exclamation tone: "Brother has so many soldiers. How many soldiers are there in the whole Hedong?"
"No less than 80,000," Li Siyuan replied.
"Too many. When I defeated Bianliang, Zhu Quanzhong also recruited a bunch of soldiers. Now that we have won Hedong, my brother has left me 80,000 warriors." Shao Shude said with a bitter smile.
Li Siyuan felt a little ashamed.
If Youzhou Town is still in hand, the two towns of Hedong and Youzhou together can support an army of 100,000. If Yi Ding, Chengde, Wei Bo, and Cangjing provide some more goods, they can support even more - grain
It's not a problem. The main problem is money and silk, which need to be provided by outside parties.
But now the towns in Hebei are being destroyed one after another, and Hedong has also lost Youzhou and Datong. It is really impossible to raise another 80,000 soldiers. In fact, the rewards for the Jin army are already less than a year ago.
If it were in another feudal town, the warriors would have rebelled.
"If I don't come to Hedong and my sworn brother raises so many soldiers, something will happen sooner or later." Shao Shude said again.
Li Siyuan was silent.
There is no way to refute this. The King of Jin had very strong control over his troops. Although he could not compare with Shao Shude and Zhu Quanzhong, he was still better than those feudal lords who frequently rebelled against their generals.
The root cause is that when the King of Jin entered Hedong, he took office with a large army.
Many of these sergeants were Tatars who were from the three tribes of Shatuo and were related by marriage to Shatuo. The King of Jin led them to win consecutive battles and gained a high prestige. Later, they merged with the remaining Yamen soldiers in Hedong, and their control was reduced, but
Still going strong.
But then again, no matter how much the warriors can endure, there is a limit. Moreover, the King of Jin has passed away at this time, and if the warriors are not kept together, they will cause chaos, burn, kill, loot, and cause trouble. If the saint is willing to take over, it can be considered a help.
They are liberated.
"The armies of the Xin Dynasty may need to be reorganized." Shao Shude said in a tone that seemed to be asking but was actually unquestionable.
"I sincerely obey the Holy Order." Li Siyuan replied.
Shao Shude nodded with satisfaction and said: "More than 30,000 people will be reorganized into the Datong and Tiancheng Second Army. I will assign officers and generals to the Datong Army. You will lead the Tiancheng Army. How about it?"
"I obey the decree." Li Siyuan responded without hesitation.
The ending was better than he imagined, and there was nothing dissatisfying about it.
"You can play with this armor." Shao Shude asked someone to hand the whale skin armor to Li Siyuan and said with a smile, "If you wear a chainmail armor inside, the protection will be good."
"Thank you for the reward, Your Majesty." Li Siyuan took the whale skin armor with his own hands and couldn't put it down.
Indeed, as the sage said, wearing a chainmail armor on the inside and whale skin armor on the outside, the protection is quite strong. The most important thing is that it can offset some blows from blunt objects, which is quite good.
There is no warrior who does not like weapons and armor.
******
On the third day of April in the sixth year of Jianji, Li Keyong's coffin returned south from Jincheng Town.
Shao Shude personally supported the coffin before leaving the city.
Outside Jincheng Town, more than 20,000 people from Feilong Army and Yinanzhi lined up in a neat queue, meandering southward.
Farther north, more than 30,000 Tibetan soldiers followed in great numbers.
It is enough for more than 50,000 people to enter Yanmen Pass.
On the tenth day of April, the army arrived outside Yanmen County, Lisuo, Daizhou.
Li Siyuan, who had returned to Daizhou early, led a group of officials, generals, and elders to stand in plain clothes outside the north gate to greet the King of Jin.
Of course, the more important thing is to welcome Da Xia Zi. The situation in Hedong has changed, and no one can say clearly where it will go from now on. If we don’t take advantage of this time to become familiar with each other, when the official position will be replaced by economics students from Kansai and Henan in the future, it will be
It was too late to cry.
Shao Shude patiently met with the officials.
His attitude was very kind and his words were pleasant. After hearing this, the officials felt as if they had returned home and felt that their lives could be maintained again.
The Datong and Tiancheng Second Army generals who were still undergoing reorganization also came to see him.
Shao Shude gave some careful consolation and felt at ease after learning that no one was causing trouble for the time being.
When he was in Jincheng Town, he had already set the tone: those who caused trouble during the funeral period were crazy people, and everyone would find them and punish them.
To be honest, it's nice to stand on the moral high ground.
He didn't expect that this little trick could suppress the ambitions of all Hedong warriors, but it would be good to dissuade a large part of them. The remaining stubborn people labeled him "crazy" and let other Hedong warriors who were willing to obey
Warriors are disgusted. Disintegration and disintegration are achieved quietly without spending a single soldier, a single penny or a piece of silk.
After entering the city, Li Keyong's coffin was parked in the underground palace of Baiyun Temple, waiting for burial at the end of August.
At this time, Shao Shude also received news from Tianjing Pass: Shi Jiantang rushed back to Zelu at night and ordered the soldiers guarding Tianjing Pass, Malao Pass, Shatuo and Tuguhunfan in Zezhou City to surrender.
The situation is very good, not a small good, but a great good!