The captain who led the team recognized Jia Xu and hurriedly came forward to tell the truth about the situation. It turned out that beating his comrades was a serious violation of military discipline. Although the captain had the power to punish the crime, he did not dare to let the Xiahou Dun brothers go unpunished, so he had to detain them first and wait. Once you get to Beitian, it will be up to the Shangguan to make the decision.
After Jia Xu figured out the whole story, he sighed in relief and nodded, saying: "Although the actions of the two old generals are inappropriate, they are excusable. Why don't you quickly release them?"
When Xia Houyuan learned of Jia Xu's identity, he shouted loudly before the soldiers untied the ropes from his body: "My lord, before the soldiers and horses have moved the food and grass, this matter will be delayed. The soldiers at the front cannot afford to wait."
"General, don't worry, Your Majesty sent Jia here specifically to solve this matter." Jia Xu smiled and suddenly his face darkened, he turned to the old soldiers and said loudly, "You guys, you have just joined the Han army and you don't know the Han army." According to the military regulations, Jia will let bygones be bygones. From now on, anyone who dares to delay military flights will be killed and pardoned."
At this point, Jia Xu suddenly pulled out his sword and slashed hard at a small tree on the roadside. The tree fell in response. Jia Xu pointed his finger at the broken tree and shouted: "We must move forward two hundred miles before dark today." Starting tomorrow, we must march no less than two hundred and fifty miles every day, otherwise there will be trees like this” [
In the past few days, these old troops could not march more than 180 miles a day. Then they complained that they were hungry and that their legs hurt and they could not walk. They kept shouting about setting up camp and resting. Unexpectedly, Jia Xu suddenly extended the daily march distance. By the time they reached two hundred and fifty miles, it was more than double their usual number. These old troops exploded on the spot.
Jia Xu didn't have the patience to persuade them here. He waved his hand, took the reins from the soldiers, jumped up and said loudly: "Jia is waiting for you in the future. If you don't come in time, I will kill you."
Seeing Jia Xu Juechen leave, the old soldiers were still complaining, but Xiahou Dun pointed to the broken tree and said loudly: "Brothers, if you don't work harder, everyone will be dead. If you have the strength, you should save a few more steps." "Let's go"
These old armies were all subordinates of the Han army. The defeated generals were very aware of the power of the Han army. After hearing Xiahou Dun's words, they couldn't help but wake up and no longer bothered to work. They suddenly dispersed and rushed towards their vehicles, pulling or fighting. The energy that the hunchbacks and horsemen unleashed when faced with a desperate situation was huge. In order to save their lives, these old soldiers who could only walk a hundred miles a day walked a full two hundred miles for most of the day. It's an hour earlier than it gets dark
Of course, this also requires hard work and sweat. Many people ate lunch while walking, and many people had blood blisters on their feet. By the time they reached the camp, all the troops fell asleep. They had been fighting for many years. I am a veteran of the war, but I have never been so tired as today.
Although Jia Xu was very strict with them and even threatened them with death, he was not without any sense of humanity. When he saw these old soldiers lying down on the ground without even eating dinner, he immediately arranged for his men to prepare supper and waited until these old soldiers had slept for two hours. He sent someone to call them up one by one. Although Jia Xu didn't understand the meaning of "iron rice" or "steel", he also knew that if they didn't eat more, they wouldn't say they had to travel two hundred and fifty miles tomorrow. Can't walk anymore
Under Jia Xu's kindness and power, the rear guard regiment and the civilian husbands who transported the food and baggage moved several times faster, and soon the second batch of supplies was transported to Beitian City. What is even more gratifying is that after several days of hard work, these old troops gradually adapted. With this kind of marching rhythm, and no one can hear any complaints, it can be seen that many things in the world are not just as simple as what can be done and what cannot be done. The key depends on whether you are willing to work hard and pay. Now, as long as you keep doing this, With such speed, the logistical supply of hundreds of thousands of Han troops on the front line will not be a problem.
At this time, Liu Xin had also met the team escorting Tuoba Jun and learned that the 40,000 nomadic cavalry pretending to be "horse thieves" were almost completely destroyed.
The incident suddenly completely disrupted Liu Xin's plan. Liu Xin was silent for a moment, waved his hand and said, "Let Chief Tuoba go first."
Jushou suddenly raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty Tuoba Jun's loss of troops will dampen my spirit. If I am not punished severely, I may not be able to convince the public."
The superficial meaning is that Tuoba Jun should bear the responsibility for the defeat. In fact, Jushou has another intention. In the eyes of people like Jushou, the Xiongnu, Xianbei and other nomadic peoples have always belonged to the category of aliens. Only the Han people are orthodox. Although Liu Xin has always emphasized that no matter which race people belong to, as long as they are willing to abide by the laws of the Han Dynasty, they can become subjects of the Han Dynasty. However, among the ministers, the idea that "people who are not of my race must have different hearts" will pop up from time to time. Ju Shou just wants to borrow it. This opportunity was used to execute Tuoba Jun to further weaken the power of the Xianbei nobles.
But Liu Xin has her own plans
With his unremitting efforts, the Han Dynasty continued to expand its territory. If it could defeat Da Qin again, it would be the most powerful country in the world. Even if Liu Xin did not want to occupy Da Qin, the current Han Dynasty still has a vast territory, stretching from the Great Sea in the east to the north of Dawan in the west. Jiaozhi in the south of the grassland now belongs to the territory of the Han Dynasty. With the increase of the land, the population has also expanded rapidly. Although the number of Han people is large, the combined population of other ethnic groups is also a large number. In this case, how to achieve ethnic integration and ensure the stability of the country? becomes a top priority
Contrary to Jushou, Liu Xin will not take the initiative to weaken them or even eliminate them physically. Instead, he hopes to influence them subtly through economic, cultural and other means to improve their identification with the Han Dynasty. This is the best way to maintain the stability of the Han Dynasty. effective means
It is for this reason that Liu Xin plans to pardon Tuoba Jun. Firstly, Tuoba is now the chief of the largest tribe in Xianbei. If he is executed, it will affect the relationship between the entire tribe and the court. Secondly, Tuoba Jun's life was saved by Ma Chao. He will definitely be grateful. Thirdly, Liu Xin did not expect them to achieve much results when recruiting nomadic cavalry on the grassland to fight this time. He just gave them an opportunity to participate in court affairs to enhance their sense of belonging.
After repeated weighings, Liu Xin still felt that it would be more beneficial to pardon Tuoba Jun than to execute him, so she waved her hand and said: "This defeat cannot be entirely blamed on the Tuoba clan leader. In order to understand the enemy's situation, I didn't expect that Caracalla was actually in a small building." The province has gathered an army of 400,000, but the defeat of Patriarch Tuoba Jun is not all good."
All the generals looked at Liu Xin in surprise and didn't understand what benefits the defeat could bring. Liu Xin smiled and continued: "This defeat at least illustrates two problems. One is that although our army tried its best to block the news of this western expedition, But the Qin Dynasty was well prepared. Second, the massacre of Han merchants at Caracalla was probably a conspiracy in itself to attract our army to expedition. This may be a trap, but it is a pity that these warriors of the Han Dynasty will never let their blood be shed in vain. We must avenge them.”
This analysis made the generals deeply convinced and nodded in agreement, but Tuoba Jun had tears in his eyes. Liu Xin just said that they were the warriors of the Han Dynasty, not the warriors on the grassland. Obviously, they had truly regarded them as the people of the Han Dynasty.
Tuoba Jun suddenly choked with sobs and shouted: "Your Majesty, the common people will never make it difficult for you. I am willing to die to thank the people of the tribe." [
Liu Xin laughed loudly and said: "Chief Tuoba, if you are really ambitious, you can save your life and go to the battlefield to avenge the dead warriors."
Tuoba Jun raised his head and said: "Your Majesty, the common people will not give up even if they die."
Jushou suddenly said: "Your Majesty, I think something is wrong."
"What's wrong?" Liu Xin thought that Ju Shou must insist on enforcing the military regulations, and suddenly became a little unhappy. In fact, since he had already decided, the emperor's words, thunder, rain, rain and "dew" were all the emperor's favor. Moreover, Tuoba Jun was not a soldier and he would not enforce it.
Military regulations are all between two ends. How could Jusao get into trouble again?
I saw Jushou cupping his hands and saying: "Your Majesty, General Ma Chao, has rescued the Tuoba leader Xiongnu. The Xianbei tribe pretending to be horse bandits can no longer be concealed. Sooner or later, it will spread to the ears of the Parthians. I hope your Majesty will make preparations in advance."
"
Only then did Liu Xin realize that she had misunderstood. Ju Shou couldn't help but smile and said: "If you don't want others to know, unless you don't do it, this matter will be made public sooner or later. If you can't hide it, then don't hide it. This time, the Tuoba clan leader and the others just looted it."
The nobles and common people of Parthia were not harmed and even gained a lot of benefits. The public is worried that Parthia will attack in advance to punish them. As long as these common people do not oppose us, Vorogis and his son, there is nothing to fear."
Jushu's worries were not unfounded. At this time, Wologis, who was on the sick bed, had already received the news, even a day earlier than Jushu had figured it out.
The news was that Aldaban analyzed the real source that Vologis heard. Of course, Caracalla was angry because of Tatina. Vologis did not believe the words of this greedy young son at first, but Aldaban immediately raised his eyebrows.
The evidence is what the Han army did in Dawan. The Han army wiped out almost all the nobles in Dawan. This news is public. It is exactly the same as what the "horse thieves" did in Parthia.
Of course, it was impossible for Artaban to think so clearly. These were analyzed by the Caracalla faction and told him that the Han army had suffered a major defeat in Asia Minor. This further strengthened Artaban's confidence in cooperating with Da Qin.
Vorogis was silent. His rule in Parthia relied on the support of these nobles. He was originally more inclined to the Han Dynasty. After all, the Han Dynasty helped him regain Ctesiphon, while the Qin Dynasty was his mortal enemy. But in this way, he needed to reconsider himself.