On June 24, the third year of Guangqi's reign, Shao Shude met with a group of craftsmen in Wuhan County.
Of course, Tubo has craftsmen, and in fact their level is quite good. This is related to their history and geographical location.
In its heyday, this country conquered an astonishingly large territory.
To the east and north, they captured a large area of Tang Dynasty and gained millions of people. To the south, they rushed down from the plateau, plundered from time to time, and brought a large area of land south of the Himalayas into their rule. To the west, they penetrated deeply into
In the Hezhong area, compete with Dashi.
It has a vast territory, complex folk customs, and a large population. Different cultures collide here, resulting in wonderful chemical reactions.
As far as the smelting and iron-making industries are concerned, Tubo, like every rising backward regime in history, plundered craftsmen from advanced areas and then concentrated them in various important towns to serve their military machines.
The treatment of these craftsmen is actually quite good. After all, they are all craftsmen, and no matter which regime they are in, they attach great importance to them. Even the brutal Mongols try to give the craftsmen the best treatment possible.
The number of craftsmen captured by the Tubo people once numbered in the tens of thousands. After the ravages of forty years of war, a lot of them were lost. However, considering that these people are also cultivating future generations and recruiting apprentices, the Tubo people's technology is acceptable and the output is high.
It can also satisfy oneself, and also has a strong foreign style. The craftsmen who came back from Central Asia are naturally very different in style from the craftsmen of the Tang Dynasty.
The Tibetan power at this time has been greatly reduced compared to decades ago. It once appeared in Arabic historical materials that there was a tug-of-war with the Abbasid Dynasty in Khorasan and Samarkand for many years, which made Qalu Lu, Kabul Khan and other forces
The huge empire that has surrendered one after another has become extremely weak.
Most of Anxi was occupied by the Uighurs, and some of the Helong states were recovered by the Tang Dynasty. Most of the land in Central Asia was also lost. Currently, there are still Tibetan warlords only in parts of the Pamir and Fergana basins.
Marshal Shao learned all the above things from the mouths of captured Tubo officials. The empire collapsed, and the commanders of each town supported their troops and divided their power. However, there were also information transmission, cultural and commercial exchanges between each other.
Shao Shude was very emotional. No wonder it was a dynasty that could maintain a stalemate with the Tang Dynasty for so many years. After the Tang Dynasty forces withdrew from the Western Regions, they stepped forward unceremoniously and even went further, allowing the Central Asian forces to fight for the first time.
Feel the power of the "Yellow Peril".
However, Tubo's local rule was brutal, far less sophisticated than that of the Tang Dynasty. The tribes and khanates in Central Asia were conscripted into wars, and a large number of goods, craftsmen, and women were also plundered and returned to Tubo. What they did was closely related to
In fact, there is not much difference between Li Hanzhi, no wonder it has to last.
After the collapse of the empire, it also left a lot of wealth to its descendants. Whether it was the Greek doctors who once appeared in Zamp's court or the captured craftsmen from Tang, Persia, Central Asia, and South Asia, they were all a huge wealth.
, enough for their descendants to continue to enjoy for two hundred years.
When we attacked Huizhou before, to be honest, we didn't get many craftsmen, only a hundred people. They were all sent to Lingzhou to make equipment for the army. This time we attacked Lanzhou, the harvest was not big, but Danhe and Linzhou really got a lot.
Hundreds of craftsmen and even a batch of armor are in stock.
It was just those exotic Tubo armor, Tibetan spears, rattan shields, recurve bows, slings, water wave blades, iron hooks, etc. that left Shao Shude speechless.
He had discovered before that the Tibetan people's weapon styles were very diverse and complex. After all, they had only been around for a short time and were not standardized. These weapons could no longer be used by themselves and could only be distributed to the people in the settlements for recycling.
The craftsmen caught in He, Wei, Lin, Lan and other prefectures are all sent back to Lingzhou. But people have to keep an eye on them. Don't let these craftsmen make a Persian-style helmet with a "horn" on each side.
The appearance of the army is really touching.
After meeting with the craftsmen, one of them gave two sheep as a reward, and then urged them on their way.
We originally planned to build a capital city in Lanzhou, but we gave up later. Let’s wait until the area has a larger population and richer materials. The Hewei states, as well as Minzhou, where Yang Yuezheng is turning his troops to attack, are too far away from the core ruling area.
He was not very reassured.
"Deputy Ambassador Chen, do you think this battle is a loss or a gain?" After returning to Zhou Yamen, Shao Shude asked Chen Cheng and Zhao Guangfeng.
"The commander-in-chief has no other place to attack. It doesn't matter whether he makes money or loses." Chen Cheng's words were a bit "playful", but it was also true.
The large reserves of military supplies and food were swept away, resulting in 50,000 to 60,000 impoverished Han people and more than 100,000 Tibetan people of all ethnic groups. In the short term, a large number of Yamen troops will be stationed. From a financial point of view, this is
Big loss, big loss.
But war is like this, it consumes a lot of money and causes great damage to places. When you take over territory after the war, what you get will definitely be greatly reduced from what you saw before the war.
It can only be managed well. If it is managed well, there will be hope for the future. Marshal Shao is also a warlord who likes to manage territory. To a certain extent, he is the same type of person as Zhang Quanyi. However, Zhang Quanyi was scolded by Li Hanzhi as "Tian Shefu"
", he didn't mind being said that. Seeing the neat seedlings in the field and the slightly stronger bodies of the children, he felt comfortable and satisfied.
"We can't pay any more." Shao Shude said, "Is there any news about the envoy who went to Shanzhou to appease us?"
"Come back to the Commander-in-Chief, the Tibetans in Shanzhou are very powerful. Now only the Tibetan tribes in Longzhi County want to annex them and can send officials to govern them. The Tibetan tribes in the Huangshui River Basin rely on their own strength and are only willing to control them." Zhao Guangfeng replied.
"Let's control the border first. It won't work this year. It will cost too much. When the Hewei states have improved a bit, we can then find a way to slowly devour them." Shao Shude said.
From the current point of view, Shanzhou is a Tubo nest. It seems that the Tubo people of later generations emerged here. At this time, the Tubo may not be able to gather hundreds of thousands of people and dispatch an army of 100,000 like the Zusiluo, but the strength should not be small.
That is to say, the strength of each department is relatively dispersed, otherwise I am afraid that even Ji Si will not be willing to do so.
Li Yuanhao, who was so powerful in the war against the Song Dynasty, also suffered heavy losses in Shanzhou. He fought several times and was defeated every time.
Shanzhou, that's it for now. Just have a name, and we'll figure it out later.
"By the way, Deputy Ambassador Chen, after the assassination of Tubo Zanpu, are there any descendants left behind?" Shao Shude suddenly asked.
"There should be." Chen Cheng and Zhao Guangfeng looked at each other and understood what their lord meant.
"You can send more people to investigate. The Tubo power still has considerable influence in Shanzhou, Liangzhou, and the Western Regions. If it can be found, it may be of great use," Shao Shude said.
Chen Cheng and Zhao Guangfeng should be the two.
The lord's old habit has returned again. Chen Cheng mentally complained, maybe he wants to take the daughter of a descendant of Tubo Zanpu as his concubine again. Tubo customs value noble races and bloodlines, and they have such a big appetite, so they actually want to plot the entire Western Region?
But it is also a fear of poverty. The Tubo dynasty fell to the ground. At its peak, the population under military control was millions. Counting the vassal tribes, there were probably tens of millions of people. With such a rich inheritance, naturally some people want to share it. Long
On the right, the Tibetan people in Hexi, Anxi and even Hezhong want to share their food. It is normal for the commander to step in and get a piece of the pie. Who makes it impossible to enter Guanzhong in the short term?
"It's time to take charge." Shao Shude stood up, looked at the map hanging on the wall, and said with a smile: "Yang Yue is still attacking Minzhou. If he takes it, he will gain more than ten counties in five states. I don't know what the imperial court will do.
What do you think?"
****
"General Fu, this is the boundary of the river. We must restrain the troops and not cause chaos." On the ninth day of July, outside Yicheng County, Jiangzhou, Pei Tong looked at Yang Shihou who was eager to try, and quickly moved to Fu Cun.
Judge and ask him to help restrain you.
Yang Shihou is really not a good guy. He looted some more in Qinshui County and recruited thousands of people to join his gang, regardless of whether they wanted to or not. Now, their team has expanded to more than 40,000 people.
If I keep doing this, I'm afraid I won't be able to control it anymore.
Fu Cunshen did talk to Yang Shihou several times, but to no avail. Now, even Fu, who has always been modest, has murderous intentions and wants to kill Yang Shihou. If he continues to make trouble, big trouble will happen if he is not saved!
Although there was no owner in Hezhong before, Wang Chongying had been appointed by the court to serve as the Jiedu Envoy of the National Protectorate Army (Hezhong Jiedu Envoy). He just entered Hedong County a few days ago and captured the rebellious Yamen general Chang Xingru and planned to take him to Wang Chongrong's tomb.
Thousands of cuts.
The imperial court's will is still quite powerful.
If there was no imperial edict, there might still be a fight for the position of commander in the wealthy Hezhong. However, Wang Chongying had a great reputation and was a member of the Wang family, so it was difficult for the generals to oppose him.
The position of commander-in-chief in Hezhong is now determined!
After listening to Pei Tong's words, Fu Cunzhen remained silent. He is now able to control the troops, not only because of his ability, but also because Pei Tong also helped a lot.
Along the way, this guy kept preaching in front of the sergeants how wise and powerful the Lingwu County Prince was, how generous the rewards in the army were, how the Difficult Army won the battle, and Shao Shude was praised as rare in the sky and hard to find on the earth.
Don't tell me, it still has some effect. When these sergeants were recruited, they knew that they would serve as soldiers for the King of Lingwu County. Although there were some twists and turns along the way, they gradually stabilized after walking so far.
The human heart is such a wonderful thing.
At that meeting in Yangcheng County, if Fu Cunshen had made a decisive decision and grabbed his troops and ran away, he might have really dragged away these Cai recruits, at least a considerable part of them.
But now, the further they move forward, the more determined the sergeants become. Trying to get people to stand on their own feet again, but the effect is not as good as before. Even Li Hanzhi's four hundred subordinates gradually feel that the spirit of
Prince Wujun is much stronger than the precarious Marshal Li.
Li Shuai secretly occupied Huaizhou, and he didn't even have a court appointment. He belonged to the Caotou King, and everyone felt that he was disgraced.
Furthermore, there is often a shortage of food and wages, so we can only boost morale by allowing people to loot places. But the problem is that the people are also poor, what can be looted? The people in Heyang are fierce, and the martial arts is very strong. Even if they go
Looting might cause a lot of casualties. Not that we can't defeat them. How could ordinary people defeat the warriors? It's not necessary.
It's such a miserable life these days! It's better to just go to Xiazhou and find a new owner, since most of you don't have any family anyway.
With this kind of thinking in mind, Pei Tong promoted brainwashing in an appropriate and beneficial way. The thoughts in the minds of the sergeants were strengthened day by day, and they actually decided to join the Lingwu County Prince.
Of course, Yang Shihou, Wang Jian and the others were keenly aware of this trend and felt restless.
But they have lost their best opportunity. In Zezhou, they were afraid of Fu Cunshen and did not dare to take risks. Now that people's hearts are no longer there, they can only do nothing.
"General Manager Pei, don't worry and go to the river. I will be stationed here. No one can pull the team away." Fu Cunchen looked at the two hundred party cavalry that Pei Tong specially left for him and said loudly.
It took ten days to travel more than a hundred miles, in order not to let the common people fall behind. Fu Cunxen now also knows that the territory of Lingwu County King requires a large number of people to reclaim the wasteland. Every time a common person is left behind, the future will be difficult for the states.
You will lose some vitality.
Besides, he is not the kind of cruel warrior who doesn't take human life seriously. The women and children who are left behind should be allowed to sit on the stolen carriages and horses as much as possible. After they recover a little, they can get down and walk. Although the number of carriages and horses is still seriously insufficient,
There are still many people left behind, but others see it and feel its virtue.
Fu Cunshen's reputation among this group of people is indeed quite high, although some people secretly scolded him for not returning to Zezhou and Heyang with the group.
Pei Tong went to the river to borrow grain.
He had a relationship with Wang Chongying and knew that this man had no great ambitions and only focused on protecting the family's wealth. Therefore, he had great confidence in borrowing food and even carriages and horses.
When Wang Chongying came to power, didn't he want to gain the support of neighboring vassals? He was such a fastidious person, so of course he knew what to do. He might not even have to pay back the grain he borrowed, just to make Marshal Shao owe him a favor.
Favors may be of average value among ordinary people, but when it comes to generals with tens of thousands of soldiers, the most valuable thing is a favor, and the hardest thing to repay is the favor.
This time something happened to Wang Chongrong, and he was stabilized in time. What if something happens to him in the future? Whether the descendants of the Wang family have any favors is crucial.
Of course, it depends on the person. If Zhu Quanzhong owes you a favor, forget it and forget about it. Most of the time, they won't repay you, and they may even try to do it to you in turn.
This involves the issue of character. Among the vassals, Marshal Shao has a pretty good reputation. He is trustworthy, generous to others, and repays kindness. Only when you hold this kind of favor in your hand is it valuable.
After Pei Tong left, Fu Cun adjusted his clothes and armor. After a moment of meditation, he called for his soldiers and said, "Go and call Yang Shihou and Wang Jianji, saying that we have something important to discuss."
The soldier was stunned, Fu Cunshen glared at him and said, "Be smart."
The soldier nodded and left quickly.
Fu Cunshen looked around the big tent again. It was very good. Many people had been posted there, all of whom he trusted.
Having made up his mind, Fu Cunxen no longer had so many worries. Instead, he placed a pot of wine on the table and started to drink from it.
It is not useless for Yang Shihou to plunder Yangcheng and Qinshui counties, otherwise it would be difficult to drink wine along the way.
There were footsteps outside, faintly accompanied by Yang Shihou's angry curses, and Wang Jianji's unhappy echo.
The two of them lifted the curtain and strode in. They saw Fu Cunzhen drinking alone and became even more angry.
"Take it!" Fu Cunshen put down the wine bottle and shouted.
Yang and Wang were startled and turned around to run away, but were restrained by the oncoming Cai soldiers. More than ten people rushed out from behind the curtain, holding equipment in their hands. Well, they were all from Yangcheng, Qin.
The "sponsored" groups from Shui County and Shui County surrounded Yang Shihou and Wang Jian.
Yang and Wang cursed loudly.
Fu Cunshen's expression remained unchanged and he walked up to the two of them casually and said: "We have just met each other, so I don't want to harm you. Commander Yang, Commander Wang, if you two want to leave, I will send you horses today, and take care of you, or
Return to Huaizhou, or go elsewhere, it's up to you. If you want to stay, you can, but you will be wronged in the next period of time."