On June 15, the third year of Wende, Shao Shude led his army to Fugu.
News came from Beijing: King Shou ascended the throne and changed the Yuan Dynasty to Dashun, making this year the first year of Dashun.
Fugu is Fuchang County in the Sui Dynasty. The state once established Fugu town and stationed troops here. It is located in the Gushanbao area northwest of today's Fugu County, one hundred and forty miles southwest from Linzhou.
Fugu is located between the two states of Lin and Sheng. In fact, there are many people and they are not poor either.
During the Huichang period, Li Deyu wrote: "I visited Linsheng and found that between the two prefectures, the place is named Fugu. People came to Yinfan, and there are many hidden treasures."
Since then, Lin and Shengzhou have been at peace, and the population of Fugu has grown. After Shao Shude governed Guanbei Road, he vigorously promoted trade with Hedong. Nearby merchants even liked to go north through Fugu to Hebinguan in Hebin County and cross the river.
To the other side, Shuo, Lan and other places.
By the way, Yang Yue is still stationed in Shuozhou with the Xinquan Army.
Two days ago, Shao Shude received a "family letter" from Helianduo, asking why Yang Jun was still staying in Shuozhou. Shao Shude did not answer, and instead asked Helianduo to appoint Bai Yicheng as the governor of Shuozhou. He did not know who this person was.
What would the white-bearded brother think?
Outside Fugu Town, Yang Yao stood respectfully by the roadside.
Behind him are eight hundred members of the Yang family, including Han Chinese and Dangxiang people. They are all carefully selected strong men. Everyone can ride a horse and shoot a strong bow.
In the past three or four months, Yang Yao took these people, plus Lin, Shengzhou soldiers and Tutuan villagers, to patrol along the river to prevent the troops from the east of the river from crossing the river from the west and being caught off guard.
Group after group of soldiers passed by.
The soldiers from the Yang family watched silently, feeling envious.
The Yamen Army has plenty of money, food, and good equipment. It is a place that even the rural regiment soldiers would only dream of entering.
Look at that uncut head, look at that mop of forehead, look at that brown shirt, look at that hakama slave, look at those red leather boots, everything is better than their patched linen clothes.
Why doesn't the commander-in-chief recruit us into the army? If we can wield a spear, shoot a hard bow, and ride a horse, aren't we better than the Cai people from Henan?
This is actually the heartfelt complaint of the descendants of the wealthy families in the four frontier states of Yin, Lin, Sheng, and Feng.
They have immigrated here from Guandong and Guanzhong since the Northern Dynasties, and the longest people have lived here for more than twenty generations. This is a place where Han and Hu people live together, with strong martial arts and cheerful temperament. They attach great importance to promises and despise life and death.
In the three counties of Linzhou, children start to learn martial arts at the age of seven or eight. If you pull a random person over and ask, "What is your ideal?", most of them will answer, "Get fame immediately." They are not afraid of hardship or death, but they are afraid of not having a chance.
As a result, the commander-in-chief recruited more than 30,000 troops from Henan twice, and there were a large group of Cai people in the yamen army, which greatly disappointed these children of the frontier wealthy families.
Hundreds of young people who followed Yang Hongwang to join the army heard that they all bought land and houses in Lingzhou, had mutton to eat every three days, and bought some wine from time to time to drink. When the news reached Linzhou, these rural teenagers were filled with envy.
.
The gorgeous carriage stopped not far to the north.
The officer who looked like a general opened the door curtain. Soon, a tall warrior came out of the car.
He has two small beards, a black turban, a red military uniform, and riding boots. His left hand is holding the handle of the sword, and his right hand is casually resting on the tip of the bow. His eyes are bright and he is not angry or intimidating.
"Commander!" Yang Yao stepped forward quickly, stopped ten steps away from Shao Shude, knelt on one knee and saluted.
Shao Shude stepped forward slowly, followed by his own soldiers.
"General Yang is an official, why do you need to pay such a big courtesy? Please get up quickly." Shao Shude said, holding his hands up.
Yang Yao immediately stood up and stood aside.
"Are these all Yang family members?" Shao Shude pointed at the five hundred native soldiers and asked.
"They are all from the Xin Qin Dynasty, and they are sent from the two counties of Lianggu to Hebin." Yang Yao replied: "Be prepared to defend the Eastern Army."
"You are so strong. Linzhou is so strong. If you serve in the army for a few years, you will be of great use." Shao Shude praised.
"It would be a blessing to be able to serve as a subordinate of the commander-in-chief and help the sons and gentlemen come here."
"General Yang of the Xinquan Army often hates the lack of troops. We recruited 500 soldiers in Shuozhou last month, but they are still not enough. If you want, you might as well cross the river eastward to find General Yang. He will be happy to accept him." Shao Shude laughed.
road.
Yang Yao is waiting here with 500 Linzhou soldiers. He naturally knows the reason and wants to show his kindness.
For the military leader, hundreds of athletes were already considered a generous gift. Yang Yao was so knowledgeable that he could reuse it.
The two of them walked forward while chatting and laughing, and soon arrived at Yang's house in Fugu Town.
The more Shao Shude thought about it, the more he thought it was appropriate to let Yang Yao be the judge of the accounts department of the Duhufu Palace.
It just so happens that this generation of the Yang family also has the idea of becoming an official. If the wealthy frontier families with many tribes don't use it, who else can they use?
As long as Yang Yao manages the Woyang and Yulin palaces well and his children continue to make new achievements in the army, it will not be a problem for the Yang family to be upgraded from a frontier tycoon to a famous family in the future.
"General Yang, I heard that the Linzhou Yang family has an old relationship with Huazhou Wang Bian. Is this true?" After a sumptuous banquet, Shao Shude left Yang Yao alone and asked.
"Come back, Marshal, in the past when Wang Bian was in Jinhe, he went to Linzhou to recruit troops, and we had a chance encounter." Yang Yao didn't know what Shao Shude meant by this, so he could only answer truthfully.
"Wang Bian is now in charge of Huazhou and Tongguan, which is really the key point." Shao Shude thought for a while and said: "General Yang might as well send his confidants to Huazhou. Since the new king has been established, he will definitely choose his confidants.
The position of Two Thousand Stones is at stake..."
There is no need to say any unnecessary words, Wang Bian will naturally understand.
Zhaozong still likes to mess around. Although he may not change Wang Bian's position, it is always good to scare him.
Hearing that Hao Zhenwei has been sending people to Chang'an frequently recently, he seems to be looking for the post of military governor (Tonghua). How can Wang Bian not be worried when he knows this?
This is the basis for cooperation.
"You must obey the commander-in-chief's orders." Yang Yao responded.
Shao Shude nodded. As for Jingdong, Huazhou is one direction of this trip. The other is Jingxi, Jingyuan Town to be precise, which is also extremely important.
This place is full of talents!
Before the Chao Rebellion, Zhou Bao was appointed as Jiedushi, and later transferred to the navy. He died inexplicably in Hangzhou, which was controlled by his subordinate Qian Liu.
Tang Hongfu, the military governor of Shuofang, was also a general from Jingyuan. He once raised his voice in Longwei Slope and beheaded more than 20,000 people.
Marshal Shao has been paying close attention to the condition of the current Jing Marshal Cheng Zongchu.
He probably doesn't have much time left.
Currently, the most popular people in Jingyuan Town are brothers Zhang Jun and Zhang Xiu (fán), both of whom are government generals. After Cheng Zongchu's illness became worse and worse, they slowly began to seize military power, hoping to control this territory——
No matter how bad the Three Prefectures of Jingyuan are, there are always military leaders who regard them as a favorite and want to inherit them hereditary. This is the characteristic martial arts mass-produced by the state.
By the way, the new king who had just ascended the throne did another big thing for Jingyuan Town, which was to send a Shence Army general named Yuan Shi with three thousand troops to serve as the envoy of Yaowu Town.
Yaowu Town is within Jingyuan. The imperial court's move was to take advantage of the situation after Cheng Zongchu's death to take back the governance power of Jingyuan and expand the territory directly under the imperial court.
It’s really fun and fun!
Zhaozong is really capable of doing things. He has just ascended the throne and his people's hearts are not yet solid. He can't wait to attack the feudal town. This is really too impatient.
Of course, it is also possible that the new king is anxious to establish his power and prove himself. But no matter what, if he is too anxious, he may not be able to defeat the Zhang Jun brothers. He is a serious Jingyuan native, so he naturally has a large group of supporters.
How can the imperial court compare with this?
Shao Shude only stayed in Fugu Town for one day, and continued to lead his troops to set off the next day.
The night before, Yang Yao had already left in a hurry, intending to personally take charge of the liaison with Wang Bian.
Shao Shude had already talked with him about taking up the post of Judge of the Palace Account Division of the Zhenbei Protectorate, and Yang Yao readily agreed. But before that, he had to handle the matter well, otherwise his ability might be questioned.
On the 20th, the army arrived in Linzhou, and on the 30th, it arrived in Rulin County, Yinzhou.
At this time, news was received that the imperial court intended to appoint Yuan Shi as the governor of Jingyuan, but because Cheng Zongchu had not passed away, he held off for the time being.
This is crazy...
Can the Zhang brothers hold back? They control most of the troops in Jingyuan Town!
Chen Cheng and Zhao Guangfeng mentioned to Shao Shude before that the Jing division should be less than 10,000, or only 8,000. But if all the miscellaneous troops are gathered together, and the Tibetan and Party troops are recruited, the number will be at least 30,000.
ride.
Historically, in the second year of Qianning (895), Li Maozhen and Wang Xingyu violated the throne. The imperial court urgently summoned King Qin of Jingyuan Town: "Jingshuai Zhang Xiu has led 30,000 troops to the northwest of Beijing to strangle the road to Qi."
It is obvious that the imperial court wants to seize Jingyuan Town, but the Zhang brothers, representatives of the local soldiers, may not be willing. There will be a lot of drama in the future.
On the sixth day of July, Shao Shude arrived in Suizhou City.
This place can almost be regarded as his "Longxing Land", with a household registration of more than 100,000, various branches of Suizhou Duzuoyuan, and foreign trade in the cattle and horse market. It is impossible not to make money.
However, the development of Suizhou has almost reached its peak. After all, there are many mountains, little farmland, and the output is very average. It is not easy to feed more than 100,000 people. Don’t think too much about other things. Just farm and graze honestly.
The few remaining Dangxiang tribes have been organized into households and people. This is their most important task.
On the tenth day of July, Shao Shude's army had passed Suide County and began to move towards Yanchuan County in Yanzhou.
It was also on this day that Cheng Zongchu died of illness at his home in Jingzhou.