The third year of Dashun came soon, and tens of thousands of Shuofang troops spent the new year in Shaanzhou.
As early as the twelfth lunar month, the concubines from all over the country were released in batches. After working for so long, it was quite interesting for them to go to Huazhou to pick up a sheep.
In this expedition, the master, draft animals, sergeants, and people consumed a total of more than 2.2 million grains and beans, but only more than 400,000 were seized. Most of them were provided by parts of Huazhou, Weibei, and Jingzhao Prefecture, and even in the end
In one month, a considerable number of people from Shaanxi and Guozhou also came out.
In war, it’s all about who has the thickest blood!
After the Shangyuan Festival rewards were distributed, the morale of the troops was very high, but they were all a little homesick.
It’s okay to fight in the town or in neighboring towns. It’s not far from home, but Shaanxi and Guozhou are too far away. For the sergeants whose families are in Lingzhou, it takes two months to travel 2,000 miles to fight for half a year.
After two months of walking back, a year has passed.
Perhaps, it is time to establish a second money and grain base and governance center in Guanzhong. Lingzhou's population is about to be saturated, and there is really not much room for development.
Of course, you can continue to stay in Lingzhou. There is also a way to reduce the cost and time of transporting people and materials, that is, through the Yellow River water transportation.
But this requires capturing Hezhong Town, at least part of it, so that the soldiers, equipment, money and grain from Shuofang's ten states can be transported to Shaanxi and Guo at a very low cost, and then support the eastward campaign.
After all, Lingzhou is still very valuable as the current ruling center.
Surrounded by large areas of grassland, there are many Qiang and Hu people. Placing the ruling center here will not only effectively deter the Qiang and Hu tribes, but also absorb and digest their tribes, making them a boost rather than a hidden danger.
Can Wang Chongying allow Shuofang's army to use the road to transport troops and grain? After suffering a loss, I'm afraid he won't do it again.
"Heyuan Army and Jishi Army's 16,000 cavalry have returned, right?" Shao Shude suddenly asked on the way to Xiashi County for inspection.
"Commander, you should have started your return journey. Feng'an Army and Tiande Army have moved to Qinghai to take over the defense." Chen Cheng replied.
The strength of the Feng'an Army and the Tiande Army have been supplemented to a certain extent, and the source is the Zhongshun Army.
This unit has been revoked by Shao Shude, because after entering Shaanxi and Guohan, the mood in the army was unstable, a rebellion broke out, and was suppressed. The remaining approximately 4,500 infantry were all dispersed and sent to Qinghai to replenish
Go to Feng'an Army and Tiande Army.
As a result, the Feng'an Army led by Qian Shousu and Han Xun had 7,000 infantry and 500 cavalry; the Tiande Army led by Cai Songyang and Yang Sheng (formerly Fengxiang Dashanguan Town General)
There were 5,500 infantry and 1,000 cavalry.
The strength of these two armies, one in Shanzhou and the other in Kuozhou, has been reduced compared to two years ago, and their combat effectiveness and morale are not the same.
However, many tribes that Shao Shude moved to have taken root in Qinghai. With the cooperation of the two, they should be able to barely support it.
The Zhenwu Army stationed in Longyou also returned to Lingzhou, and they were replaced by the Jinglue Army led by Guan Kairun and Wei Boqiu.
Guarding every two years is certainly hard, but it is also a kind of training for the troops. Squatting in Lingzhou every day will wear out sooner or later. I don't know how many years the combat effectiveness can be maintained.
"The Heyuan and Jishi armies have not been reorganized, and their combat effectiveness is very questionable. How many of their family members have moved to Lingzhou?"
"Coming back to the commander, there are not many. The infantry of this army are mainly soldiers from the four towns of Shannan East Road, Fengxiang, Yifang, and Danyan. Most of the family members still live in their old hometown."
"Let them change their marching direction and come to Huazhou. If your family wants to move to Huazhou or Weibei, that's up to you. Those who come out to join the army alone can also settle down in Huazhou and Tongzhou." Shao Shude ordered.
"Yes." Chen Cheng responded. After returning, he still had to go through the process with the military government to confirm the matter.
The Shuofang military and political clique has developed to this point, and it is no longer possible to bring all the troops together.
If there are 200,000 troops, including family members, that's one million people, all living in a small area. The pressure is really great.
But it's not okay to prevent the sergeants from seeing their families often.
The warriors of this era are not easy to talk to. If you make them unhappy, they will make you unhappy too.
The appearance of the outer town army is not without reason.
Don't the commanders know the benefit of keeping all sergeants and their families under their noses?
It’s impossible not to do it!
For the outer town army, the army is stationed in other places all year round, and the families of the sergeants also live near the station. The risk of rebellion is definitely much greater than that of the army living in the capital.
Moreover, they cannot see their commander-in-chief all the year round. The commander-in-chief has a high prestige in their hearts, and the psychological burden is less when they mobilize the troops to rebel.
At this time, Shao Shude was very envious of Zhu Quanzhong. Even though it only covers 17 states, they are densely populated and rich in products. They are not too far away from each other, and the transportation is convenient. Troops can be scattered in various states, and the generals can often see each other.
own troops to minimize the risk of rebellion.
From now on, the Heyuan Army and the Jishi Army will gradually become the Outer Town Army, so we need to keep an eye on them.
"The family members of the sergeants of the Wuxing, Guzhen, and Chishui armies should be arranged to go to Shengzhou as much as possible. Lingzhou cannot support too many people. Shengzhou is now gradually improving. There are more family members of the sergeants from Jingyuan, Tongzhou and other places.
It should go to a higher level. Ling is better than the two states. If I go down the river, I can go back and forth frequently in a few days."
Shengzhou is indeed a good place, and its development has been very intensive in recent years.
If we include the families of the sergeants of the three armies in Wuxing, the Tibetan people who migrated from Liugu, the civilian households from Shuzhong and the immigrants from Henan Prefecture in the past few years, there should currently be more than 31,000 households and more than 162,000 people. Just a few more
This year's move to solidify the foundation is another money and food base.
The Xitao Plain is located in the south of the Yangtze River. Even if the Qiantao Plain is not as good as it is, it will not be too different.
The group of people walked and talked and soon arrived at Kip Shek County.
"Commander." The generals who were left behind at Xiashi came to pay their respects.
The Yi Congjun has been transferred from Tongguan to Xiashi.
After staying in Shaanxi and Guojie, Li Fan "appointed" Wu Zangjieming, the Yi Congjun envoy, as the Xia Shi Gou Zhai Zha envoy, and also as the envoy of suppressing soldiers and horses.
The 8,000 infantrymen of the Yi Congjun, plus more than 10,000 mountain people from the Hengshan Party, will continue to be stationed in the Xiashi area until rotating troops come to replace them.
The three armies of Tianxiong, Tianzhu and Shunyi will also be stationed in Shaanxi and Guo. Li Tangbin was appointed as the envoy to the various passes in Xiaohan and commanded all the more than 30,000 troops left behind.
Any shortfalls caused by battle losses in each department will be replenished by the commander's office.
State soldiers drawn from various states and a total of 17,000 Qiang and Hu soldiers were recruited and reorganized into the Zhenguo Army. They have arrived at Tongguan one after another and can take over the defense after the departure of the Yi Cong Army.
The soldiers from Huazhou returned to their own town, and Wang Bian could continue to be the leader of Huazhou for a while. The defense of Tongguan was also good for him.
Shaanxi, Guo, and Hua have become the military powerhouses of the Lingxia Group, and will become more and more important in the future. This is an irreversible trend.
After visiting the fortresses and barracks of Caocaojian City, he had an ordinary lunch with the sergeants. Afterwards, Shao Shude ignored everyone's dissuasion and led his soldiers eastward out of Xia Shi, climbed the mountains, and overlooked the vast land of Henan.
.
This land, with its outstanding people and rich products, has always been the core hinterland of past dynasties.
Whoever occupies this place will have a large number of people, property, and military and political talents, and will naturally have a great starting advantage.
But the disadvantages are also obvious!
There are enemies in the three directions of east, west, north and west. It is currently the "place of the three battles". If Yang Xingmi controls Huainan again, it will be the place of the fourth battle.
But Shao Shude was not sure whether Yang Xingmi could still get up.
Historically, he incorporated Sun Ru's troops, and his combat effectiveness made a qualitative leap. Later, Zhu Jin and Li Keyong were sent to support Zhu Jin's Shi, and Li Erjiang led seven or eight thousand infantry and cavalry south to defect to Yang Xingmi, making his strength more powerful.
further enhanced.
This is simply a model of lying down and winning!
They were defeated all the way, without stopping, and the enemy collapsed with each defeat. He also recruited many elites from Huaixi and the north.
Later, in the battle of Qingkou with Zhu Quanzhong, he directly dug embankments and flooded Pang Shigu and won a great victory. He was simply the protagonist.
If we had to do it over again, would there still be so many Cai soldiers, Yan soldiers, Jin soldiers and experienced and high-quality generals defecting?
If not, it would seem difficult to do so with just the few soldiers and generals under his command.
It’s time to teach!
Shao Shude took another look at the land of Henan, he must come here often.
…
Li Hang hurriedly and slowly arrived at Xiangzhou at the end of the first month of the third year of Dashun.
The vassal town of Shannan East Road was actually the product of the struggle between Emperors Xuan and Su during the An-Shi Rebellion.
After Xuanzong was lucky to be in Shu, in order to contain the prince (Su Zong), he issued a series of orders to prevent Su Zong from defeating Anlu Mountain, regaining Chang'an and Luoyang, and achieving great achievements, including sending the princes to various towns.
, to coordinate the great cause of counterinsurgency.
Xuanzong preferred that the empire would be divided and the rebellion would be far away, but he also wanted to curb the prince's influence.
Suzong was eager to regain the two capitals and gain political advantages. For this reason, he left behind the legacy of vassal towns, which may not have caused him to fight against the Supreme Emperor.
A father is kind and a son is filial. This is true.
It was against this background that King Yong Li Lin became the governor of Jiangling and became the founder of the feudal vassal town of Shannan East Road.
Times have changed, things have changed, and today's Shannan East Road has passed into the hands of Zhao Deqian, a former Cai thief.
The late emperor didn't know whether it was intentional or something, but he actually gave Shannan East Road the title of Zhongyi Army, just like giving Zhu Quanzhong the title of Dongping County Prince, which is full of absurdity.
Shannan East Road originally had jurisdiction over eight prefectures, namely Xiang, Fang, Jun, Tang, Deng, Sui, Ying, and the eight prefectures were restored to govern Xiangzhou. Anyway, Zhao Deqin occupied seven prefectures (when he returned to Fuzhou), so the Zhongyi Army now governs seven prefectures.
.
The land of Qizhou has been recuperating for several years and cleaning up the hidden houses. Now the population has rebounded, with more than 400,000 and less than 500,000. It is probably like this.
When Li Hang arrived outside Xiangzhou, he immediately reported himself to his home. Zhao Deqian was shocked that Jiedu was seriously ill. After carefully checking the documents and seals, he welcomed him into the mansion.
"Last year when we left Henan, the King of Lingwu County really impressed the world." Zhao Deqian sat in front of the brazier, his hands trembling slightly, chest tightness and shortness of breath, and coughing from time to time. He was already an old man with his neck buried in loess.
Li Hang observed him carefully. His face was sallow, his expression was haggard, but his facial features and eyebrows were good, and he could vaguely see that he was a brave and heroic man in his youth.
The second sons, Kuang Ning and Kuang Ming, stood by the side, looking at Li Hang from time to time.
At first glance, Li Hang felt that these two people did not look like warriors, or that they were not pure warriors.
He has good looks and handsome features, and can be said to be a handsome man. However, his skin is slightly fair, and he has obviously not been exposed to too much wind, frost, rain, and snow. His hands are not calloused. He obviously does not play with bows and knives a lot, and his expression does not look like that.
There is a fierceness of fighting to the death, and there is also a majestic demeanor that makes people obey subconsciously.
These are just two noble men!
"Ling Gong has been in Xiangyang for several years, and the people are rough and peaceful, which is admirable." Li Hang said.
Zhao Deqian smiled after hearing this.
Is this Lingxia envoy always so arrogant? When others talk about the people's sentiments in the seven states, they always use "great governance" to describe it, but Li Hang actually only gave it a "rough and peaceful" evaluation.
"The Zhe family and the Shao family have a brother-in-law relationship. The envoy who came here must be to return the three counties of Junzhou, right? Feng Xingxi, a generation of unruly people, was summoned by the military government many times, but he couldn't come with excuses. General Zhe asked
Exterminating this generation is also a great act of kindness. I wonder when the land of the three counties will be returned?" Zhao Deqian suddenly asked.
"I'm not doing this for Junzhou." Li Hang said, "I'm here to preserve the wealth of the Zhao family."
Zhao Derian remained calm after hearing this, but Zhao Kuangning and Zhao Kuangming hesitated to speak. It was obvious that the young people were still unconvinced and wanted to say something.
In fact, it's normal. The trend is like this these days. Who would bow down to you just because you say a word?
"Why did the envoy say this?" Zhao Deqian smiled and said: "In the majestic city of Xiangyang, there are fine soldiers of Tang and Deng. Who can touch the wealth of my Zhao family?"
"Why is Zhao Shizhong so ignorant? Zhu Quanzhong of Bianzhou has a well-equipped army. This time he suffered a heavy loss at the hands of my lord, and he must make up for it. Brothers Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin are unable to support themselves, and Shi Pu's situation is even worse. Day and night
Destroyed. Once these three towns are wiped out, will Minister Zhao be able to sleep in peace?"
"Just as the envoy said, the King of Lingwu County is far away in Shuofang, while the King of Dongping County is close at hand. It seems that it is not difficult to make a choice. The heart of the Central Plains is a vast land with abundant resources, dense population, and all kinds of industries are flourishing and full of vitality. How can it be?
How can it be compared to the miserable and cold land? It's just a small setback for a while, but it can come back in the future. I'm afraid it's inappropriate for the messenger to say that?" After saying that, Zhao Deqian felt a little weak, so he leaned on the back of the bed, and Zhao Kuangning tucked him in.
Blanket, very attentive.
"However, Quan Zhong was lenient on the outside and taboo on the inside, and the heroes were suspicious. An Shiru, the envoy of Yicheng Jiedu, fell ill and died of a sudden illness. General Caizhou offered his clan power and surrendered to Quanzhong. Quanzhong pretended to give him preferential treatment and later took away his power.
, and now he has been killed again. How could such a cruel and ruthless person surrender to him?" Li Hang cited two examples and talked eloquently: "My Lord has always been kind to others, even the prisoners under the rank, and he was released to his home to make Ansheng safe.
Don't worry about your career. Even Zhao Shizhong is a wise man and has no fear of loyalty. How can he not make plans for his descendants?"
"The envoy is unparalleled in eloquence, but now he occupies the state belonging to our loyal army, which is hard to convince people. It is better to return Junzhou first, and then talk about other things." Zhao Deqian was silent for a while, and then said: "We have won Junzhou and restored it.
Looking at Xiangzhou, Quanzhong is a disaster to the horizon, but Zongben is a problem to the elbow and armpit. If we can't return the state to Jun, what's the use of the envoy saying so much? Why not turn around and ask the king of Lingwu County to show his sincerity and win my trust, like this