Although it's only August 20th, this year's cold wind seems to have arrived earlier.
Under the whistling autumn wind, tens of thousands of people in Hu Shuicheng were shivering with cold outside the empty city.
They had just experienced twelve hellish days. Most of them lacked food and drink, and even the small amount of leather armor and leather products on their bodies were devoured.
Later, when water became a precious commodity, the taste of leather roasted by fire was really hard to describe.
At the most painful moment, I had to rush to drink urine.
At this time, they all stretched their necks, their noses twitched very fast, greedily smelling the vague fragrance in the air, and their eyes were fixed on the steamed grain cakes and cooked haggis soup not far away.
Countless black heads swayed left and right with the scent.
A child, at most seven or eight years old, who was probably too hungry and couldn't bear it anymore, struggled to crawl to Bai Congxin's feet. His little head kept banging on the ground, and he spoke weakly in a familiar Tang Yin.
beg.
"Mr. Lang, please be kind. Your servant is very hungry and doesn't dare to ask for more. I just ask for half a cake!"
The surrounding soldiers, generals and civil servants couldn't help but turn away, unable to bear to watch this scene. The childish and weak Tang sounds shattered their inner defenses.
Bai Congxin let out a long sigh, ran two steps suddenly, kicked the kneeling Luo Dingzhong to the ground, pointed at his nose and cursed.
"Look, look, who did this? This is what you men did!
In the past, the five surnames and the three royal families were so loyal, and your ancestors were so heroic. They would not give in until death, even if they were attacked by swords and axes, they would not give in.
But when you come here, a little Guo Guangyi and a little threat make you give up the glory of your ancestors and your noble blood.
At the end of the day, what did you gain from your compromise? It was your wife, children, and children who were about to starve to death, and you who carried your shameful status and perished in hell.
In this way, when you go underground and meet your ancestors, they ask you whether the broken leaves are there and whether your descendants are safe, how should you answer?"
Luo Dingzhong has really broken his defense. Although his ancestors were from the Uighur Khanate, when Zhang Yan was the founding of the country, he was rehabilitated as Gao Xianzhi, Feng Changqing, Pugu Huaien, etc. If Pugu, his maternal ancestor, were rehabilitated
Hua En is regarded as an ancestor, so it makes sense to say "heroic".
He cried loudly and fell to the ground, knocking his head on the ground and bleeding. When Guo Guangyi came to power, he was the one who disapproved of it the most. Thinking about it now is even more painful.
"My descendants are incompetent and have tarnished the glory of our ancestors. I want to die now, but I still have worries. Please give Duke Bai a way to survive for these tens of thousands of people. I am willing to go to the capital of the gods and be punished in a clear and formal manner outside the Suzaku Gate!"
When Luo Dingzhong cried, a group of people all started to cry. The injured men and the hungry and thirsty women and children knelt on the ground, and the sounds of crying and pleading intertwined in the air.
Bai Congxin sighed again and said the words Luo Dingzhong often heard recently, 'If I had known today, why would I have to do it in the first place?'
"This man is certainly guilty, but how could the women and children know about it? I beg you to forgive me." Xue Shouli could hate real traitors like Guang Guangyi to the extreme, but he still found it difficult to be ruthless against people like Hu Shuicheng.
"Please forgive me, Protector!" Not only him, but also Li Jixun, Lu Sanlang and others were still unable to do this.
Bai Congxin nodded, "Children under ten years old, pregnant women, and elderly people over fifty can come forward to eat and drink first. As for you, Luo Dingzhong, tell me something that can help you survive temporarily.
reason."
After giving the instructions, Bai Congxin pretended to drink water, walked slowly to the secretary Zheng Guizhong, and whispered.
"You will find some people to observe later. Any young children who give food to their parents, or pregnant women who give food to their injured husbands or parents-in-law will be kept for future use."
Zheng Guizhong was stunned for a moment, then nodded quickly. He understood what Bai Congxin meant. He could still give food to his parents after being hungry and thirsty for more than ten days. He must be extremely filial.
The people in the river have not received much education, and few have this kind of virtue. Those who can do this are most likely to have received the cultural education of the Central Plains Hundreds of Good Deeds and Filial Piety First.
Such people are naturally our own, and of course they should be put to good use.
Luo Dingzhong took this opportunity to organize his words. Just then Xue Shouli quietly came over and told him what Bai Congxin was most concerned about. This was similar to what Luo Dingzhong had guessed, so he was still certain.
"The Great Protector, I think that the heavenly soldiers are coming from the east, and now there are two things that need to be resolved urgently. In the short term, Samandro Persia is a prosperous country in the river, with a population of four million.
Among them, there are 20,000 armored soldiers called gulam, the rest 30,000 al-Olia (standing army), 30,000 iqta knights, and more than 100,000 infantry mutawas.
You can also use gold and silver to hire divine warriors with good fighting ability from Dashi, so it is not difficult to defeat, but not easy to occupy.
In the long run, the people in the river are not of my race, and they are supported by a large food supply. They have not been transformed by the king, and it is even more difficult to educate them. It is extremely difficult to control the king and barbarize the people here."
There was no expression on Bai Congxin's face, while children, pregnant women and the elderly in the distance had already begun to eat and drink. The other strong men and women were even more hungry and thirsty, and they all cast their fiery eyes on Luo Dingzhong, which made Luo Dingzhong feel even more stressed.
"I think that the Governor should not rush to attack Samampos now, because Hamid Emir can no longer control the situation.
The person in power now is Saleh, the son of Hamid, who is known as the wise ruler in the Samanid Persian state and has great support from the people. He will not give in easily."
Bai Congxin agreed with this point, because the last time Zhang Shengren took them into Bukhara, Bai Congxin specifically analyzed it with Zhang Yan.
At that time, had it not been for the quarrel between Nasr II and Hamid's father and son, and Hamid's cowardice, they would not have been able to enter Bukhara.
Moreover, Bukhara is a strong city in the middle of the river. It was not captured last time, but Hamid took the initiative to offer the city. This time no one offered the city. Even if Bukhara could be reached, the siege would take at least half a year to begin.
Bai Congxin became a little interested, "Then from your point of view, what should our army do next?"
Luo Dingzhong's eyes lit up with hope, and he said loudly: "I think the army should capture Shiguo City immediately!"
"Stone Kingdom City?" Bai Congxin thought for a moment, then looked at Luo Dingzhong doubtfully, "You are deceiving me as a new arrival in Hezhong, don't you know what is going on in Saman Kingdom?
Amir, the governor of Shiguo City, is the largest vassal town in Saman Persia. Our newly arrived army, why should we capture Shiguo City and solve the source of civil strife in Saleh? Can't we form an alliance with Amir and capture Bukhara?"
Of course Luo Dingzhong would not think so. In fact, anyone who went to the river would know that Governor Shi Guocheng intended to rebel.
Because the word Amir is actually another name for Emir, but it is missing an insignificant syllable. The governor of Shiguocheng calls himself Amir, and his disobedience is clearly revealed.
"Mr. Bai, please listen to what I have to say." Luo Dingzhong quickly explained, "If my army comes east to capture Bukhara and support someone close to us to take over Saman Persia, we can naturally form an alliance with Amir, the governor of Shiguocheng.
But if you want to rule Xia and barbarian people here, you cannot form an alliance with them, for two reasons.
First of all, Saman Persia is backed by the Great Food and is rich. Just conquering Bukhara is not enough to make them surrender, because they can continue to recruit warriors from all over the Great Food.
I heard that Dashi has a vast territory, borders the great country of Qin in the far west, has a huge population, and is connected with the Tianfang Sect. As long as Saman Persia sticks to one place, what we will face is an endless number of divine warriors, both internally and externally.
If there are enemies, it is bound to be impossible to occupy it for a long time.
Therefore, I thought it would be better to capture Shiguo City and pretend that Saleh would attack Bukhara unless he offered five million dinars and the princess of the Saman Persian royal family.
And Saleh, who has always been known as the Lord of the Ming Dynasty, is actually just a stone rich man. Now that I have solved the largest vassal town in the country, and I can recruit divine warriors to come west, he will definitely refuse to surrender, and even wants to lead the army northward.
Expel me and wait.
At that time, our army will station our elite troops in Shiguo City and tens of thousands of elite cavalry in Talas and Baishui City to attract the Samanid army to attack northward.
After their heads are bruised and bleeding under Shi Guojian's city wall, and then they are suddenly killed by fine cavalry, they will inevitably be defeated.
Repeat this process several times until they have no soldiers left and no godless warriors dare to come again.
Moreover, in each of these battles, our army does not seek to capture, but it seeks to kill as many people as possible and kill all of their strong men heading north.
Several years or even ten years later, those who dared to resist in Saman Persia and the divine warriors who dared to come from the west will be almost dead. At this time, it will be much easier to enter Bukhara."
If Zhang Yan were here, he would have realized right away that this set of tactics was the one used to deal with the Southern Tang Dynasty in the later weeks. It strangled Shouzhou and continuously besieged it, but in fact it was to kill all the effective forces of the Southern Tang Dynasty.
Bai Congxin became more interested. He waved his hand and said, "Go on, what is the second benefit?"
Luo Dingzhong replied: "The second benefit is, of course, that Amir, the governor of Shiguocheng, has hoarded a huge amount of food, grass and weapons in and around Shiguocheng in order to rebel.
It is said that one of the warehouses contained 400,000 dan of rice and grain. If they were broken, it would be enough to feed the army for several years.
Moreover, Shiguocheng is a large city in the river with a population of over 80,000. Breaking down Shiguocheng will also allow the men who have come from thousands of miles to enjoy themselves and stabilize their military morale."
This is not bad, Bai Congxin smiled a little, "Then tell me, in the long run, what other clever tricks are there to save the country from the king and the barbarians?"
Luo Dingzhong gritted his teeth, "Kill, kill selectively, kill more women than men, and then for every person brought from Han, give him more than five aunts.
Regardless of appearance or age, as long as he can have a child, he will be given it. It is also stipulated that a child must be born. After the child is born, the court will provide rice and food.
Then it was stipulated that if any Hezhong people married their sisters or daughters to people from the Central Plains, their whole family would be allowed to believe in the Six Methods Sect and become their own people.
In this way, it only takes one or two generations to create tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of Tang'ers here, and we will be able to establish a firm foothold."
Bai Congxin and Hu Guang looked at each other. Sure enough, only locals can understand so clearly. This person can still stay.
Therefore, Hu Guang stood up and said: "Dadhu, when we wait for the Western Expedition, the saint has given us the power to make arbitrary decisions on an ad hoc basis, but he has not authorized how to deal with the Suiye people. We should report their matters to the saint first and ask the saint to make a decision.
Bar."
That's right! Bai Congxin was happy that this matter should be decided by the saint, "Then get up first, tidy up, and get ready to eat."
This sentence of eating made Luo Dingzhong, whose knees were numb, burst into tears. The remaining 30,000 people in Hu Shuicheng were finally saved for the time being.