The east side had just turned white, and a gray goose walked out of the reed swamp with staggering steps. With two crows, the gray goose flapped its wings and flew diagonally into the sky.
The riverside suddenly became noisy. One after another, gray geese came out of the reeds and flapped their wings to chase the leading goose. After a while, a dozen big birds formed a long queue in the sky, passing through the morning light and facing the sky.
The colorful clouds flew south.
It was late autumn, and the climate was quite cold. The city walls were covered with a thin layer of white frost, as if light snow had fallen.
Exhaling, it's like a stream of white liquid is sprayed out from the mouth and nose, and in a blink of an eye, it is forced back by the cold air, splashing on the face, turning into dots of star dew.
The night is getting brighter, and the eastern sky seems to be painted with a golden edge. The morning glow is getting redder and brighter, showing more vitality.
Listening to the "quacking" of the birds gradually fading away, Li Chengzhi withdrew his gaze and spoke softly: "Even birds know how to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, and they migrate in autumn and spring, let alone people? And the sage said that good birds choose trees, and the world
Brother Zun, why should you be so grudged?"
Hearing the name "Brother Shi Zun", Yuan Zun's figure became more stooped, and the smile on his face became thicker. But if you look carefully, you will find that there is not only a little embarrassment in the depth of the smile, but also a hint of embarrassment.
.
"The Duke of the country has a clear lesson, and if the world abides by virtue, his ability is rare. If a person speaks lightly, he is afraid that he will live up to the high hopes of the country."
"No problem!"
Li Chengzhi waved his sleeves gently, "It's just a few letters on the left and right, just some scraps of paper and pen and ink. If you don't achieve anything, don't worry!"
After talking for a while, he looked at Yuan Zun with a half-smile, "Is it because Brother Shizun is unwilling, or is it because he is afraid of ruining his reputation for the rest of his life?"
Li Chengzhi's tone was still gentle, but Yuan Zun was frightened to the point of sweating: "Shi Zun doesn't dare, just write it now!"
"Then I'll have to trouble Brother Shizun!"
Yuan Zun bowed again and stepped back from the city wall.
Listening to him chatting with others, it seemed that he had met an acquaintance. Not long after, Da Xi went up to the tower.
"Those who surrender have lost all integrity, so how can they have a clear name? This thief is clearly looking forward and backward, and even wants to bet on both ends. He is afraid that if he writes a letter to persuade him to surrender today, if the imperial court wins one day, he will be punished with death.
undoubtedly."
"It's okay, it's just human nature!"
Li Chengzhi smiled softly, "That's my intention, and it will stop the repeated thoughts of these Yuan clan members."
As the war progressed, more and more states and counties were captured, and there were either prisoners or generals asked to surrender, and there were many officials. Among them were high-ranking clan members such as Yuan Zun.
For example, Yuan Xu, the younger brother of Yuan Hui, King Chengyang, who is now the pastor of Sizhou, served as General Zuo under Cui Yanbo. He was defeated when guarding Xiaoguan and was captured by Li Liang.
For example, Yuan Ying's son Yuan Ning was appointed as the governor of Jingzhou. I don't know why, even Yang Jun of Jingzhou fled, but he defended the city and refused to retreat.
There are also the former governor of Yongzhou, Yuan Xianhe, son of King Jiyang, Yuanshu, Yuantong, son of King Yuanxi of Xianyang, Yuanduan, son of King Yuanyong of Gaoyang, etc., there are more than ten people, big and small.
There is even Yuan Cheng, who is powerful in Yunei, and his reputation is not inferior to Yuan Cheng. After Yuan Yi returned to the capital, he was the governor of Ling, and Yuan Kuang, the former Guangping Wang of Erzhou (Bo Gu Lu and Gaoping).
For example, Yuan Cheng, Yuan Kuang, Yuan Ning, etc. would rather die than surrender. Li Chengzhi wanted to show his magnanimity and put them all under house arrest in Xihai.
But most of the others have no integrity at all, and at least on the surface they have surrendered to Li Chengzhi.
There was no need to think about being in charge of the army. Li Chengzhi didn't have that strong self-confidence yet, so he only held some idle posts with high power and low power, such as serving as an advisor, joining the army at a high level, and making court invitations.
But as time goes by, it still has some internal impact. Even some formations, tactics, training methods, military supplies and other factories' production processes cannot be kept secret to the extent that they are watertight. As long as you pay attention, you can learn it.
Quite a few.
That's why Li Chengzhi decided to reduce or even cut off these people's escape route as much as possible. Now, ordering Yuan Zun and others to go to Luoyang, Henan, Hedong, and Shandong states to write letters of persuasion to surrender is the first step.
Of course, there is also the intention of alienation. After all, there are not just one or two Xianbei nobles who are secretly contacting and even actively joining Li Chengzhi's family. I don't believe that the emperor and Yuan Yi knew that the clan rebels could really do it when they persuaded their clan to surrender.
Indifferent.
Seeing Da Xi's strange eyes, Li Chengzhi smiled calmly and said: "Of course, please comfort Mr. Xi, but it comes from the bottom of your heart, and there is absolutely no ulterior motives. Don't worry, if I don't capture Luoyang, my identity will be the same."
It will never be exposed..."
"I know it... You can worship me as the commander of the navy and command the six guards. It shows that you have great trust in me. How can I be suspicious for no reason?"
When Xi Kangsheng was mentioned, Da Xi's face darkened, and there were tears in his eyes, "But my father has made up his mind. Now we are each his own master. When we meet again in the future, we will only be enemies, not uncles and nephews, let alone... let alone...
Father and son……"
Li Chengzhi sighed secretly: This is the highest level for aristocratic families to make multiple bets.
If you don’t see the three Zhuge brothers in the Three Kingdoms, which one is not working hard and devoting all their energy?
And for a famous general like Xi Kangsheng, who valued his reputation many times more than his life, he must have long wanted to die to serve his country.
However, it was just a matter of luck that Da Xi wrote a letter to persuade him to surrender. However, it still failed to come true.
That’s all…
Li Chengzhi smiled and took the initiative to change the subject: "In the past, I saw you busy with your feet on the ground. If I had to ask for money, food, soldiers, armor, ships and people, I would never have seen you take the initiative to look for me. Today, you are here again
Why are you here so early? Tell me, we will never refuse anything we promise!"
Da Xi showed a simple and honest smile, quite embarrassed.
After successive battles and victories, the number of soldiers surrendered and captured increased day by day, and now there are more than 200,000 soldiers. If they come from the imperial army or soldiers from Hedong, most of them are placed in the Guanzhong prefectures, and most of them are stationed in fields or
He was sent to Li Shixian, who opened the mines, and only a few soldiers who were strong and good at fighting served as state and county soldiers.
As for the soldiers from Guanzhong and Longxi, they should be used if they can be used, and recruited if they can be conquered. In addition to expanding the army by 50,000 soldiers, 30,000 old soldiers were also selected and handed over to Da Xi to organize and train the naval army.
This is a big undertaking that cannot be accomplished overnight, nor can it be achieved in a short period of time. Otherwise, Daxi would not have spent more than a year training a naval force of one guard (five thousand) who dared to go into the water.
Although Da Xi was experienced in water warfare, he had only commanded more than a thousand naval troops under Xi Kangsheng before. The previous five thousand had already made him feel extremely strenuous, not to mention the sudden increase of thirty thousand?
Now it's wartime again, and all of Li Chengzhi's most useful and trustworthy men have multiple jobs. He doesn't even have a capable helper around him. One can imagine how much pressure Da Xi is under.
In this way, Da Xi would seek advice from Li Chengzhi no matter how big or small he was when he was in trouble or confused. So it was not as bad as what Li Chengzhi said, but it was just a joke to express his closeness to Da Xi.
"It's really relaxing to have Cui Jingmao, an old official who has served as a naval commander, to help me. So today I am not here to trouble the Duke, but I have some good news..."
With that said, Daxi took out another secret letter from his arms.
Li Chengzhi took it and glanced at it. He was surprised at first, and then showed a hint of joy.
The letter was sent by Li Hui, who was guarding the law of bones, eight hundred miles away. Looking at the strange wording, he knew that the Secret Service had translated the cipher text.
But the letter was not written by the Secret Service, but by Xian Yuqing, the leader of the largest tribe in the western Chile.
He also overheard Da Xi mention that when Xi Kangsheng led his army to conquer Gaozhao four years ago, Da Xi had given Xi Kangsheng an order to pacify Jisu in the Western Chile, north of Bogulu, south of Woye, and west of the border wall.
To avoid being used by Gao Zhao.
Xian Yuqing admired Xi Kangsheng very much in the north and was very famous. He also treated Da Xi, Xi Kangsheng's illegitimate son, with great courtesy. In addition, Da Xi was loyal and upright. I don't know how the two of them saw each other right.
We became close friends for eight worshippers.
After learning the news, Li Chengzhi was so imaginative that he asked Da Xi to write a letter to see if he could persuade Xian Yuqing to join him.
In fact, it was just a try. Li Chengzhi's purpose was to see if he could bribe Chile in the west. If one day when the six towns were attacked from the north, Chile's troops could stand by and watch without helping each other.
The conditions are also very generous: if Xian Yuqing agrees, he will set up a market in Bogulu, and even salt and iron will be within the scope of mutual trading.
After all, since the rebellion of Rouran and the mid-term expedition of Gaozhao, the mutual trade between the western Chile and the imperial court has been interrupted for six years. Silk and linen can also be replaced by fur, while salt, pottery, etc. can only be purchased from Bogulu at a high price.
Buy it at a high price in Woye and other military towns.
At its peak, a large sheep could be exchanged for two or three kilograms of salt.
Even so, it only lasted intermittently for less than two years. First there was chaos in the six towns, and then Li Chengzhi broke through the rules of thin bones and repeatedly visited Langshan. Since then, the Western Chile could only fight in the salt of the Gobi.
Find salt in the alkaline beach.
That stuff is not only bitter, but also poisonous...
Now when he heard that he was invincible and that Li Guogong, who had lost to the famous general Xi Kangsheng in a row, was going to trade in Bogulu, Xian Yuqing was naturally overjoyed.
More than just helping each other, Xian Yuqing even offered: As long as the price paid by Li Chengzhi was high enough, he could recruit tens of thousands of cavalry in just a few months to help Li Chengzhi in his campaign.
The promise was made so casually, it was more like a pie dropped from all over the world for no reason, but Li Chengzhi believed 70% to 80% of it.
First, after Yuan Yao succeeded Xi Kangsheng as the governor of the six towns, he changed his Huairou policy and increasingly exploited the two imperial families.
The main reason is that the Chile tribe is a natural cavalry, and Yuan Yao will naturally not let go of such a good source of troops.
However, the Chile tribe was tricked once by Gao Zhao, and nearly ten thousand people were deceived into going to Gaonu County to dig for kerosene, and they were all smoked to death in Jinming County. So when they heard about the conscription, they were 120% disgusted.
Without waiting for Yuan Yao to react, he moved his entire family hundreds of miles westward, closer to Wuwei.
At that time, Li Chengzhi had no choice but to let it go. Yuan Yao did not dare to send troops deep into the hinterland of the West Sea, but let the imperial department rest and recuperate for several years.
The other is ebbing and flowing, the imperial court is weak, and the two sides are fighting so fiercely. As a tribal leader with tens of thousands of tribes, he is naturally not stupid enough. He knows that he has to make a choice sooner or later, and he also knows that he must make his bet as early as possible.
reason.
Therefore, raising conditions with Li Chengzhi was just an excuse, and Xian Yuqing was implicitly expressing Chile's surrender.
The east is not bright but the west is bright. What a surprise.
It's not that he wants to command the Jin clan's cavalry.
Now there are nearly 200,000 surrendered soldiers in Guanzhong alone, and Li Chengzhi's own troops are so numerous that they can't be used up.
What he was happy about was that there must be a lot of cattle and sheep in the Chilean tribe who had been resting for several years, and they could exchange the salt, iron and hemp pottery for military rations.
There are only 60,000 to 70,000 tribesmen living nearby in Xian Yuqing, with more than ten million cattle and sheep. How can one buy two to three million of them?
Of course, there is still a long way to go. But flies and mosquitoes are all meat. In the past six months, Li Chengzhi has almost lost his hair worrying about food. Even if he sees a piece of grass root, he will take a look to see if it is edible.
Thinking that a steady stream of food would be delivered from Hedong, Li Chengzhi felt even better: If nothing unexpected happens, after this winter, it will be a turning point between the West Sea and the imperial court.
My chances of winning are even greater...
"Xiao Xian!"
"Servant is here!"
"Send an order to Li Hui and ask him to send an envoy to the west of Chile today to discuss mutual trade with Xian Yuqing! Then send an order to Liangzhou to inform the uncle to collect salt, iron, silk, pottery and other items as soon as possible and transport them to Bogulu
...I will inform them both in the letter that they must reach the first market before Luoxue. Regardless of horses, cattle, sheep, or furs, the Imperial Ministry will exchange as many as they have..."
"promise!"
When Li Xiaoxian turned around and went down to the city, Li Chengzhi smiled warmly and said, "The reason why this matter was handed over to the uncle and Li Hui is because of the convenience of Bo Gu Lv and Wu Wei. Don't think too much about it."
No matter how short-sighted Daxi is, he still knows which is less important and which is more important.
Furthermore, Li Chengzhi always had clear distinctions between rewards and punishments, and his performance test records were recorded in the book. Daxi's first achievement in recruiting the western ruler could not be escaped no matter what.
But now, at the critical moment of the war, good soldiers were left behind, tens of thousands of troops were improperly commanded, and they went to negotiate with the Hu people?
Moreover, the navy was the key to the initial establishment, and no one could do without him. Only when Da Xi's head was swollen did he compete with Li Hui and Li Shiliang for credit.
"You're the one who's overthinking it!"
Daxi shook his head like a wave and drum, "I was afraid that if you replaced someone else to supervise the construction of the navy, and then asked me to lead the army, why would you think too much about it?"
"Don't worry, we won't change it!"
Li Chengzhi smiled and explained, "I can't wait to send the navy down the river next spring, go south along the Weishui River, and attack Luojing. How can I be so comfortable as to replace you?"
"It's definitely not possible at the beginning of spring. At most, the sailors will be taught how to maneuver ships, march, and set up formations. They have to train anyway and practice for half a year before they can be ready for a battle. Therefore, the earliest is after the summer harvest and the beginning of autumn..."
Seeing Da Xi's serious look, Li Chengzhi couldn't help but laugh: "Okay, just wait until the beginning of autumn next year..."
Before the laughter subsided, Li Cong beside him reminded him: "Mr. Lang, here you go!"
Li Chengzhi paused after hearing this, then narrowed his eyes and looked down the city.
While he was talking to Da Xi, the sun had already jumped above the horizon. At this time, the sky was bright and it was very clear to see.
About a few miles away, a group of more than a hundred chariots and horses was driving slowly toward Chang'an City along the south bank of the Wei River.
Really can’t bear to talk about it?
I just thought about the grain and grass in the east of Hedong, but within two moments, I was here.
Li Chengzhi smiled happily, struck again with his palm, and laughed loudly: "No matter how busy you are, you will only waste two or three moments, why don't you come with me to the city to greet me?"
Da Xi's eyes lit up, and he stretched his neck to look down the city. When he saw the group of carriages and horses, he asked suspiciously: "Just now I found the yamen, and then I realized that you left the yamen to climb the city before dawn. I thought
You were inspecting the city defenses on a whim, so you were waiting for someone?"