May 20th, the third year of Guangqi, in the eastern suburbs of Luoyang.
Several fast horses entered Datong Horse Row and shouted loudly.
"How many people are there? Gather them all!" Liu Sandou dismounted and asked the groom to take care of him while asking anxiously.
“There is still a group of people who just came back two days ago and are still resting.” someone replied.
“Pull them all out, dress them neatly, and bring the equipment.” Liu Sandou grabbed the ladle and took a sip of water, and said urgently.
"We will do it, why are you so panicked?" Hearing the movement in the courtyard, several people came out of the house and asked.
“Team C got into trouble with Zhu Quanzhong’s men in Henan County and killed two of them. The situation is urgent. Go and help.” Liu Sandou replied.
"Okay, let's call the boys together." They didn't waste any time. They immediately went back to the house and called everyone. Then they helped each other to dress up, take down the weapons from the equipment racks, and each person brought thirty arrows.
The horse shop covers a large area, and there are hundreds of locally recruited men inside who are responsible for various chores. When they heard this, they also shouted to help.
Liu Sandou hesitated for a moment and then said: "There are still more than a thousand Ruzhou sergeants in the horse bank. We can't leave anyone behind. Just two of our teams will go. That's enough."
More than ten days ago, people from Ma Xing bribed Qin Zongquan's group of soldiers to enter Ruzhou to recruit troops, and made it clear that they were bringing them back to Xiazhou and would not be enemies with them. Things went smoothly. From Liang County, Lin
You, Lushan, Ye County and other places have recruited 2,000 people and returned. Yesterday, you just sent 1,000 people to Guozhou. There are still 1,000 people staying in the horse shop, waiting for the second transportation.
What's outrageous is that there were soldiers from the Qin Department in Ruzhou who asked privately if they could go with them. They had fought several battles with Zhu Quanzhong recently, with more defeats than wins. Moreover, Zhu Wen killed people too cruelly, beheading more than ten thousand people at one time.
Killing 20,000 people made everyone a little scared.
The Xuanwu Prefectures were in ruins and could not support many soldiers, so they were not willing to farm the land. I heard that a Cai soldier who was a yamen soldier in the Dingnan Army showed up and talked about how rich the food and salary were. Everyone was moved and wanted to follow.
Walk.
As for where Xiazhou is, it doesn’t matter! When Cui An sneaked to Chen, Xu, and Caizhou to recruit troops, didn’t everyone also go there? Isn’t Shuzhong not far away? It may be further than Xiazhou.
Yang Fuguang recruited eight loyal and powerful people to go to Guanzhong to fight against thieves, and everyone followed him, and later followed Lu Yanhong into Sichuan. There was nothing wrong with it. The Cai people traveled all over the world, fighting for generals and marshals with their heads high. Isn't this a living thing?
Those who surrendered to Jingnan served as soldiers in Jingnan, and those who surrendered to Kuixia served as soldiers in Kuixia. There were also many who went to Huainan, Jiangnan, Sichuan, and Guanzhong. I heard that some even went to central Guizhou. The commanders of various towns used them.
Everyone agrees that the Caizhou Army brand has been established. Prince Lingwu of Xiazhou has become quite famous in recent years, so it seems like a good choice to serve as a soldier for him.
The people in Ma Xing did not dare to agree to the request of Qin's subordinate sergeants. The general seemed to be more willing to recruit good people into the army instead of Qin Zongquan's subordinates who were very habitual. But then again, how could there be good people in Henan at this time?
Zhang Quanyi posted a list in Luoyang, except that he was guilty of murder, and he didn't care about anything else. In this case, if you want to ensure that your property, wife and children are not lost, don't you just have to be ruthless? If you are not ruthless, you are not being bullied.
die?
Of course, Datong Horse Racing is not just recruiting troops in Ruzhou. In fact, Heyang Town, Henan Prefecture, and Shaanxi and Guozhou are recruiting troops. The commander-in-chief said that the focus is on the prefectures and counties close to Zhu and Wen's territory. Recruit hard and the residents will be willing to leave.
Also pull them away. Prefectures and counties far away from Bianzhou will, in principle, raise less money or even not raise money at all.
Nowadays, the situation in the Central Plains is tense. Qin Zongquan has assembled an army of 150,000 to attack Bianzhou. Zhu Wen was a little panicked and asked the Zhu brothers for help. Especially Zhu Xuan, the military commander of the Tianping Army, whom Zhu Wen regarded as his brother and begged him to send troops in every possible way.
Help. The commanders at the top are busy doing things, and everyone in the prefectures and counties below is in danger. They don’t have any long-term thoughts at all, and they are just living one day at a time.
In this case, when the Dingnan Army came to recruit troops, no one cared about it at all.
I don’t even know if the governor of a certain state or the magistrate of a certain county will be responsible for so much next month! Zhu Zhen went to Ziqing Town to recruit more than 10,000 soldiers and returned, but no one took care of it. Then he sent people to Heyang.
Shaanxi and Guozhou recruited more than 10,000 troops, but no one took care of them.
The most incredible thing is that after Zhu Zhen finished recruiting troops, she also attacked Qingzhou and captured more than a thousand horses. The next year, she sent people to recruit more than a thousand troops, but still no one took care of it. The control of the commanders of the towns and counties was already low.
To an outrageous degree, it is basically in a state of autonomy.
Moreover, war horses are really in urgent need. Zhu Zhen got more than a thousand horses from Qingzhou, Zhu Wen was ecstatic, Marshal Shao now has two large ranches in Yinchuan and Yongqing, and Dingxi Village (Western Envoy City) is still preparing for the second horse ranch.
With three ranches and the support of the Tibetan tribe, it is not a problem to trade tens of thousands of horses a year. The towns in Henan must be so jealous and flock to them.
Recruiting troops has never been an official problem, but you have to guard against competitors.
Liu Sandou returned with a hundred people on horseback. Everyone had armor and was well-equipped. They quickly arrived at the place where Team C was. It was a small village along the river, with about a dozen households.
The fifty men of Team C were fully armed and faced off against a man who was almost three times their number. They were about to take action.
“Let them get lost!” Liu Sandou came up and shot an arrow a few steps in front of the opponent.
Three teams of 150 horses were formed in the shape of a cross, with riding bows in their hands and horse poles hanging next to their saddles. They looked coldly at the more than 100 people on the opposite side, almost all of whom were infantry.
Poor guy, he doesn’t even have a horse!
More than 400 newly recruited sergeants from Henan County stood aside and watched silently. Some of the big-hearted guys even had a look of laughter on their faces, as if they were expecting the two groups to fight.
About seven or eight hundred people were recruited on the opposite side, and they were all sitting on the ground at this time, with no intention of running away.
With such a trend, Henan suffered repeated military disasters, forcing everyone to become brave and aggressive. If you are ruthless and powerful, everyone will be convinced and willing to hang out with you.
Respecting strength is the value today.
“Since this military academy is from the Lingwu County Prince, you should know that...”
“Get out!” Another arrow, this time closer.
"He is so domineering, so today I will teach Prince Lingwu a lesson..." Before he could finish his words, an arrow shot down his head, blocking the rest of the words in his mouth.
The knights at Datong Horse Racing are all strong men in their forties. But don’t underestimate them. This group of people is almost all veterans who are not suitable to continue to work in the government army. Their experience, martial arts, and courage are not bad. At this time There are horses and armor, and if there is a real fight, the one or two hundred people on the opposite side will not be enough to watch.
Some of the new soldiers recruited on both sides were booing, laughing and cursing, but most of them were laughing at the Xuanwu Army group.
Everyone in the Xuanwu Army looked at each other and froze there, not knowing what to do.
There has been a conflict today, and two people have died. If we just go back like this, we will definitely not get any good results. We may not necessarily die, because the two people killed by Datong Maxing were ordinary sergeants, not a military academy, and they can't even talk about being part of the team. Beheaded, but punishment is certain.
But let's fight. The opponent has horses and armor, rich experience, and excellent archery skills. At first glance, he is an old pawn. There are only more than a hundred people here, and except for a few who have horses, most of them are infantry. In How to fight in this vast and flat wilderness? Even if everyone is dead, we won’t be able to support many people on the other side.
"Are you going?" Liu Sandou took a deep breath, put down his riding bow, took out the long bow from the horse's belly, and asked.
Fifty cavalrymen left behind him, took a long circle, and stopped a hundred paces diagonally behind the Xuanwu Army. They also drew out their lances and horses, and looked at them coldly.
“Let’s go!” The military commander who led the team looked pale. He didn’t know whether he was afraid of the cavalry on the horseback or was afraid of going back and being punished.
His sergeants were disheartened and dispersed, preparing to leave with the newly recruited soldiers.
"get out!"
“I won’t leave with you!”
“Let’s go to Lingwu County Prince.”
"The Dingnan Army is so capable of fighting, your life will be saved if you follow them."
"That's right. If I go to the Xuanwu Army, if there is a big defeat, my head will probably be the fault of others, so I won't go."
Unexpectedly, the 800 new soldiers they had recruited in Mianchi and Xin'an counties did not want to leave, and they all clamored to go and attack the army.
The military commander's face darkened, and he drew his sword. The Xuanwu sergeants also took out their weapons and shouted loudly. It looked like they were about to kill a few people to show their authority.
“Charge!” Liu Sandou rode his horse forward, went straight into the crowd of Xuanwu soldiers, and stabbed the military academy in the chest.
The man's eyes were full of pain and remorse, and he obviously didn't expect the people from Datong Maxing to dare to take action directly.
The sound of horse hooves suddenly sounded.
Taking advantage of the fact that Xuanwu's sergeants were relatively scattered, one hundred and fifty cavalry rushed from the front, side and rear, knocking down dozens of people in one fell swoop.
Then, they walked to a distant place, drew their riding bows and fired, causing another scream.
After shooting the arrows, they charged again. The Xuanwu sergeants suddenly couldn't hold on anymore and fled in all directions.
More than a thousand new soldiers on both sides were stunned.
"I'll take care of today's affairs..." Someone came over and said worriedly.
To be honest, in the process of recruiting and escorting households, this was not the first time they killed people. But in the past, they mostly killed bandits and rioters. This time, they killed serious town soldiers, and they killed them in one go.
Dozens. If we pick up horses and chase them at this time, the hundreds of people who are escaping will not survive.
"The commander-in-chief has already given an order to recruit soldiers and civilians, so you can do it cheaply." Liu Sandou said, "The rules are like this, and I will act according to the rules, so don't worry. Last time, the soldiers from more than a dozen counties in Lushi County repeatedly asked for bribes, and that's not the case.
Have you been killed? When you go out to do business, especially in this war-torn place, you have to be prepared to kill and be killed."
After that, Liu Sandou rode his horse to the newly recruited soldiers. Looking at their chaotic appearance, he said: "Why don't you pack your things and follow us? Zhu Wen is cruel. So many people died today, so you will definitely take revenge."
It’s best to take your family with you and go west to Shaanzhou, cross the river to the north, and then cross to Suizhou to the west to reach the territory of the Dingnan Army. It’s not far away at all, and it’s not as far as Ziqing or Huainan.”
Liu Sandou's words are true. To the west of Henan Prefecture is Shaanxi Town, across the river from Hezhong Town. After arriving in Hezhong, they can then cross the Yellow River to the west to reach Suizhou. This is a route they often take.
Another route is to enter Guanzhong via Shaanxi and Guo, then go north to Yifang and go to Xiazhou, which is a little farther away.
The route to Suizhou is really not far from Luoyang to Ziqing or Huainan. It’s just that Liu Sandou didn’t make it clear and didn’t tell them that the final destination was actually not Suizhou, but somewhere else.
Everyone has arrived in Suizhou, can they still run away? Just carry the gun for Marshal Shao and farm the land honestly. Maybe you will be happy and grateful in the future.
Datong Horse has calculated before that a family traveling from Heyang to Xia Sui will consume about seven bushels of grain on the way, which is still affordable.
After arriving in Suizhou, if they could take a boat upstream, the cost would be very low. Of course, there are no boats for them now, so they have to transport military supplies.
It was difficult to determine the prefectures, because the Han population was too small. And Henan was in such chaos. At this time, Qin Zongquan even went to Zhengzhou, next door to Henan Prefecture, intending to besiege Zhu Wen. People in the surrounding counties were panicked, and it was a good opportunity to recruit people.
If nothing else goes wrong, Lingzhou is in great danger this year, and the Dingnan Army has some spare capacity to accept more immigrants. However, the general is regaining the lost land in Helong, and most of them have made some gains. Most of the families of the recruited sergeants are still resettled in Lingzhou, but
Ordinary households may not be affected, some may be resettled in the Hewei area.
It's a pity that there are still a few households. These days, when they hear that you are recruiting soldiers, everyone is willing to follow you, but they are not so active in recruiting people for farming. Henan does not lack land, but it lacks a stable environment.
If it wasn't for Qin Zongquan who was still tossing around, most of the people wouldn't want to leave.
I don’t know how long this guy can keep jumping around.