The next day after Cheng Chumo came back, the cattle, sheep and horses that Xue Yantuo promised were delivered.
The person in charge of escorting was Solange, which showed that Xue Yantuo couldn't wait any longer.
Lin Xuan arranged for Cheng Chumo and others to receive it, and brought Solange to the camp.
After sitting down, Solange said impatiently: "General Manager, our Xue Yantuo is very sincere. The promised things have been delivered. I wonder when the General Manager can send troops?"
"Don't worry, as long as the food and grass arrive, I will send troops immediately." Lin Xuan said with a smile.
"General Manager, you said that you would send troops as soon as the things arrived. Are you kidding me?" Solange said with a somewhat ugly expression.
At the beginning, he agreed to deliver the things, so Lin Xuan immediately sent troops. Now that the Western Turks have learned that the Tang Dynasty will send troops to help Xue Yantuo, they have already begun to mobilize troops. They may launch an attack at any time. If he cannot bring reinforcements back, Yi Nan
How do you explain it there?
Lin Xuan shook his head and said: "Your envoy has misunderstood. The army only has a few days of rations. Is it possible that we are hungry to help you fight the war?"
Lin Xuan was not lying. In order to control the army and prevent the generals who led the army from becoming bigger, the imperial court would limit the food supply in the army.
If there is no war, the army will only have half a month's supply of food and grass, which must be delivered every ten days.
In case of war, although the army will have more food and grass, it will not last more than a month.
This is why many wars in ancient times cut off the other side's food routes.
Because every time food is transported, it means that there is not a lot of food and grass in the army. As long as the food and grass can be burned, even if the other party urgently allocates it, it may be too late.
However, although Lin Xuan does not have much food and grass in the army, as long as he asks for it, the food and grass will be shipped soon. He and Solange said this, which is just an excuse.
"I wonder how many days it will take for the food and grass to arrive?" Solange asked.
Solange knew that this was an excuse but had no choice. Now that everything has been shipped, even if he wanted to ship it back, Lin Xuan would not agree.
He knew that Lin Xuan was stalling for time, but he understood that it was impossible for the Tang Dynasty to watch Xue Yantuo be destroyed. Lin Xuan's purpose in doing so was simply to let the Western Turks consume Xue Yantuo's strength.
Although he was very angry, there was nothing he could do.
He now wants to know how long Lin Xuan is prepared to delay. As long as the time is not too long, he can only admit it.
"It will probably take another three to five days. Don't worry, sir. I will definitely send troops here in five days at most." Lin Xuan promised, patting his chest.
He naturally knew that the Western Turks sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty, and their purpose was self-evident.
Lin Xuan believed that as long as Nishu was not stupid, he would definitely launch an attack before the Tang Dynasty sent out troops. If it lasted for three to five days, it should be just right.
If he waited too long, he was afraid that Xue Yantuo would not be able to withstand the pressure, and if he left too early, he was also afraid that the Western Turks would withdraw their troops directly.
When he gets to the grassland, if Xue Yantuo can still withstand it, he can just find an excuse to delay it a little longer.
Isn't it a good reason to be acclimatized or something?
As for whether Xue Yantuo would attack him in anger, Lin Xuan thought it was unlikely.
One Western Turk was enough for Xue Yantuo. If he offended the Tang Dynasty again, then Xue Yantuo would really perish.
"General Manager, three or five days is too long. I, Xue Yantuo, provide the food and grass for the Tang army. I wonder if the General Manager can send troops as soon as possible?" Solange asked.
The Western Turks may send troops at any time, and the reason why Xue Yantuo's tribes are confident is because they feel that they will win with reinforcements from the Tang Dynasty.
If we go back this time and cannot bring reinforcements back, people will definitely be in panic.
"It's great that Xue Yantuo can provide food and grass, but my soldiers in the Tang Dynasty can't get used to it." Lin Xuan said helplessly.
"We Xue Yantuo will definitely provide the best cattle and sheep to the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty. How can we not get used to it? Is the chief manager looking for excuses and not wanting to send troops?" Solange said, unable to suppress the anger in his heart.
"Your Majesty, don't be angry. Our Tang soldiers are used to eating rice and noodles. We make them eat meat every day. They are really not used to it. It's just like letting the Turks eat rice and noodles. Can the Turks get used to it?" Lin Xuan spread his hands and said.
Solange was stunned for a moment, it seemed that this was really the case.
When Xue Yantuo was short of food in winter, he would also come to the Tang Dynasty to plunder, and Solange personally led his people to plunder the Tang Dynasty.
He also ate the rice and noodles he took back, but only occasionally, and most of them were distributed to the tribesmen.
For Turkic people, whether rice noodles are delicious or not is not important. The key is not to be very hungry.
This is similar to how northerners are not used to eating rice, and will feel hungry very quickly even if they eat it.
The same goes for southerners. It's okay to eat some pasta for breakfast. But if you eat pasta three times a day, you will feel hungry very quickly.
Of course, those who have already formed a habit are a different matter.
When Solange came, he had no other solution. He could only say: "General Manager, please hurry up as much as possible. Otherwise, if I, Xue Yantuo, are destroyed, it will not be good for the Tang Dynasty."
"Your Majesty, don't worry. I understand this. I will definitely send troops as soon as the food and grass arrive." Lin Xuan said with a smile.
At this moment, Cheng Chumo walked in, raised his hands and said, "To the chief manager, the cattle, sheep and horses have been sorted out, and there are no deviations."
Lin Xuan nodded, he believed that Xue Yantuo did not dare to do anything in this regard at this time.
"You ask someone to prepare some food and wine. I want to entertain the distinguished guests." Lin Xuan ordered.
"Yes." Cheng Chu silently agreed and prepared to exit.
"No, thank you for your kindness, Chief Manager, but I still need to go back to resume my life, so I will stay here soon," Solange said.
He doesn't have the intention to eat here now. He just wants to go back as soon as possible and tell Yi Nan the news.
"Then I won't keep your envoy."
Lin Xuan personally escorted Solange out of the military camp and waited for him to leave before turning back.
"General, there are so many cattle and sheep. Are you going to give extra meals to the soldiers tonight?" Cheng Chumo said with a smile.
Although his rank has certain preferential treatment, the conditions in the military are poor, so it won't be much better.
And Li Shimin promised to leave 10,000 sheep for them, so they could eat them freely.
"Kill a hundred of them first, and let the soldiers have a good meal tonight."
Linxuan also saw the sheep and estimated that they weighed more than a hundred kilograms. After processing, they weighed about a hundred kilograms.
One hundred heads is almost 10,000 jin, and the military camp has a total of only 10,000 people. If divided evenly, each person would have one jin.
This is also due to the fact that Lin Xuan's army is newly formed and there is no free pay.
As we all know, the situation of empty pay during the Song and Ming Dynasties was very serious.
Soldiers are not deregistered when they die, are not reorganized when they flee, and are not recruited when there are vacancies. The purpose is just to pretend to receive military pay.
There are even some armies whose actual number is only tens of thousands, but the number reported is one hundred thousand, which can be described as crazy.
This situation was not unique to the Song and Ming dynasties. It actually existed in all dynasties, but it was not as exaggerated as the Song and Ming dynasties.
Take the current Tang Dynasty as an example. Although it is a military system, soldiers only have tax exemptions. They usually only eat and drink, but do not receive military pay.
However, the military rations distributed by the imperial court were based on the hair of each person. If there was a portion missing, the extra food could not be exchanged for money.
However, the Tang Dynasty was newly built, and the atmosphere was pretty good. The free pay in the army was no more than one-tenth at most. This was also the reason why Tang Chu's army had relatively strong combat effectiveness.