Chapter 127 Liu You
Compared with Luoyang, the appearance of Yuzhou is indeed very different.
If the imperial power of Luoyang suppressed the influence of many aristocratic families and made them more restrained under the emperor's feet, Yuzhou is different. Here, aristocratic families gather together, and farms, villas, and fortresses can be seen everywhere, forming a Separate military and political entities share power with officials at the three levels of counties and counties in Greater Jinzhou.
Shao Xun led more than a thousand tug-of-war generals, 500 brave cavalry troops, and a total of more than 4,000 horses, mules, and donkeys, carrying food, water, and horse supplies for seven days. This is what he saw along the way. .
The Jin Dynasty once conducted a census, and after the destruction of Wu, the number was around 22 million. But all fools know that aristocratic families hide a large number of people, so how much do they really know?
Later generations of scholars generally believe that when the Eight Kings Rebellion first broke out, the actual population of the Western Jin Dynasty was about 35 million. In other words, a large number of people across the country are hidden by wealthy families and are not reported at all.
There are no other 13 million people in the imperial household register. But these populations will not be left unchecked. The imperial court cannot take care of them, but wealthy families and local powerful people will take care of them.
Of course, there are more than just these 13 million nobles and powerful people. A large number of the 22 million people listed in the household registers are sheltered and driven by them. The number of people that can be used by the imperial court is getting smaller and smaller year by year, and the tax base is getting smaller and smaller every year. To the extent that it now takes a long time to transport money and grain to Beijing. Bargaining with aristocratic families - this is the meaning of Wang Yan's existence.
The shape of this country, as the Eight Kings Rebellion deepens day by day, is accelerating, accelerating and accelerating again...
"Kuchian..." On the night of September 18th, searching all the way east Shao Xun, who was advancing, sat on a field ridge somewhere on the outskirts of Ku County, drawing a map based on his impressions by dim candlelight.
Gao Yi, Zhang Jin, and Duan Liang lost interest after looking at it for a while, and each sat down to wipe their weapons.
Gao Yi can barely be regarded as Shao Xun's old man, and he will be there when the kingdom disembarks.
Zhang Jin is the person assigned to him after the Forbidden Army was reorganized. It can be said to be the leader of the building or a general, because he has an official status.
Duan Liang is from Xianbei.
This is normal within the Luoyang Central Army, because during the Cao Wei period, a large number of Hu cavalry were recruited. At least half of the Youzhou tuqidu in the Jin Dynasty were Xianbei and Wuhuan, and the rest of the cavalry officers and soldiers in the guards were also mostly Xianbei, Wuhuan and Xiongnu.
We are all serving as soldiers to eat food and fight, who should we not serve as soldiers? If you serve as a soldier for the emperor, you may get more money, and your family can move here and become Luoyang people.
"The name Ku County sounds familiar." Shao Xun muttered.
He felt that this place seemed to be related to Wang Yifu, but he couldn't remember it, so he had to give up.
"General, if you can't find the enemy again, you have to go back for supplies." Gao Yi lowered his head and wiped his saber and said.
"Don't rush back yet. If you can't, borrow food from the people." Shao Xun waved his hand and said.
It is said that it is borrowed food, but most of the time it will not be paid. It may be more appropriate to use food requisition.
In all counties in the world, there are not many "free" people who have not yet attached themselves to manors. His apportionment to the people was actually accelerating the process of manorization, allowing more people to donate their fields and become villagers out of safety concerns.
They are indeed searching for enemy troops these days.
The battlefield is foggy.
After inquiring and analyzing intelligence, he could only know the approximate location of the enemy. The specific location was not clear, so he could only search by himself.
Similarly, the enemy does not know their location, or even whether they are coming.
Currently, there are only two points that Shao Xun can grasp: first, Liu Qiao is in Pei State; second, he sent people to the surrounding areas to collect grain and grass a few days ago.
That’s all.
"General." A messenger hurried over and reported: "There is news from the Qiao Kingdom. Two days ago, Liu Qiao's troops were collecting food and grass there. Yesterday, they went eastward. I don't know where. Go."
Shao Xun, Gao Yi and others looked at each other and were all overjoyed.
As long as you catch the whereabouts, you can follow the clues and find Liu Qiao's whereabouts.
“There is one more thing.” The messenger hesitated.
Gao Yi and Duan Liang decided to leave.
The messenger waited for a while and then said: "General, there is news from Yushanwu that a convoy has not returned. They sent people to search along the road and found blood stains, broken spears, and everything else. No, even the body is gone.”
“Bang!” Shao Xun punched the field ridge.
If you think about it for a moment, you will understand that this is someone taking advantage of you. There are only a few families in Yingchuan that have this ability, such as Xun family, Chen family, Yu family and so on.
A transport team consists of about two hundred dock residents, plus thirty to fifty swordsmen. Although this strength is not strong, it is not something that thieves and bandits can handle.
At least those dozens of long sword warriors can only be dealt with by the elite troops trained by the great families. As for the people of the fort, their combat effectiveness is average. If a thousand troops are brought out from the family manor, and coupled with a hundred and eighty cavalry, they can indeed be surrounded and annihilated.
In this world, the biggest enemy is indeed not the refugee army, the official army, or the barbarians, but these local snakes who control a private army ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands.
“Where are the people from Yunzhongwu?” Shao Xun asked.
"The Lord of the Golden Building has brought more than 200 soldiers and 400 men, and there are still two days' journey from Yushanwu. The carriages and horses have to be further away, and there are still three or four days to arrive."
" The light troops marched all the way without all the equipment, right?" Shao Xun said: "Let them prepare all the equipment at Yushanwu and escort the iron armor back to Yunzhongwu. Let Chen Yougen personally be responsible for transporting the Xuchang arsenal. "
"No." The messenger waited for a while, and after seeing that Shao Xun had no other instructions, he bowed and left in a hurry.
Shao Xun collected his thoughts and decided to put the matter aside for the time being. The war was urgent.
"Send the order and advance eastward overnight." He called Duan Liang and Gao Yi and gave the order.
"No."
******
The countryside at night is quiet and charming.
When the breeze picks up, mixed with the fragrance of earth, a different kind of lingering feeling arises in the hearts of the fighting men who have been away from home for a long time. How's it going at home?
The thatch on the roof needs to be reinforced, otherwise it may be blown away by strong winter winds.
The rope on the well windlass was broken. The second brother asked someone to find someone to re-tie it, but he didn’t know if it was done.
My children have been clamoring to eat rice with soybeans on October 1st. I think they should eat it, right?
Won’t your mother-in-law sell those fat sheep in advance? You must wait until mid-winter to sell it.
That’s all, the fight shouldn’t last long, and I can go home in more than a month at most. If the prodigal woman really sells the sheep in advance, she must be dealt with properly.
"嘘嘚..." The rapid sound of horse hoofs sounded, shocking many people's dreams.
Liu You opened the tent and looked around with surprise.
The night is so vast that it’s hard to see clearly.
The sound of horse hooves is getting closer and closer.
A moment later, hundreds of riders rushed forward, circled around them, and dropped arrows from time to time, creating a large amount of chaos.
The baggage and grain trucks formed a circle, and the cavalry could not rush in directly, but they could still drop arrows from a distance. These grain transport soldiers were not prepared at all and suffered a big loss immediately.
"Where did the thieves come from?" Liu You was a little surprised.
Xuzhou Shibing has been completely defeated. It is impossible for there to be any enemies within a radius of hundreds of miles.
No, strictly speaking, there are.
The names of several aristocratic families suddenly popped up in Liu You's mind. It is not troublesome to raise more than a hundred or even hundreds of horses in a large manor. After all, their own children and nephews also have to practice. Cavalry fighting and galloping shooting skills, some guests are serious cavalry, but they have always been on good terms with their father, it is hard to believe that they would send troops to attack each other.
So where did this come from? Could it be King Fan Yang's soldiers?
My father had an old friend in the Gui Mansion, and news came secretly. After King Fan Yang learned that his father had defeated Sikong, he immediately led his troops to return for reinforcements. But most of them are infantry, how could they be so fast?
"Whoosh! Whoosh!" No one answered him, only arrows kept coming through the air.
Shooting at night was not accurate, but the camp was too densely populated, so it still caused considerable damage.
In the distance, there were dense footsteps in the night.
The footsteps are getting closer.
Soon, a vague figure appeared in sight.
"Kill!" The night breeze sent a murderous cry, making Liu You's heart tremble subconsciously.
The pace suddenly accelerated, and the sound of the collision of nails and leaves seemed to be close to my ears.
"Ah!" The first spear hit the guard on the baggage truck.
The soldiers sent by the night breeze jumped up and boarded the carriage, stabbing and slashing, killing non-stop.
The defenders were rushed away.
The soldiers jumped off the vehicles one after another and rushed into the camp to kill.
Although the defenders were large in number, they were attacked in a hurry and could not react at all. For a while, ghosts cried and wolves howled, and wolves rushed.
Liu You did not hesitate at all, and immediately asked people to open the gap in the baggage train formation. With dozens of hastily assembled riders, he rushed towards the enemy troops who were climbing the train formation, trying to cut them off and cut them off. A breathing space for the defenders.
But someone had already noticed his whereabouts in the night.
Shao Xun, with fifty cavalry, galloped straight towards him.
The cavalry charge was very cruel.
Brave and fearless, cowardly, skilled, and low-level, no matter what kind of person you are, when you charge head-on, there is not much room to move around, and you have to face the enemy directly. Spear, horse spear, halberd.
If you are not careful, you will fall off the horse and die on the spot.
A total of more than a hundred horses from both sides quickly passed each other, instantly creating a large number of ownerless horses running for free.
Shao Xunle turned the horse's head, holding the horse's stall which was still bleeding, and shouted: "Liu You!"
Liu You also turned the horse around and looked a hundred steps away Shao Xun asked, "Who are you?"
"Ha, I cheated, it turned out to be you!" Shao Xun laughed loudly and rode straight up. Tang Jian hurriedly patted the horse and took the numbers with him. Ride and guard the left and right.
Shao Xun kept urging his horse, very fast.
Seeing the opponent's indomitable momentum, Liu You was a little surprised and wondered if he should temporarily avoid the sharp edge, dodge his charge, then ride his horse to a distance and shoot him with an arrow.
"Death!" Liu You couldn't think any more, Shao Xun rushed forward in an instant, and the thick horse head went straight to his chest.
Liu You subconsciously lay down on the saddle, dodging the fierce blow. When he was about to get up, he saw a sharp ring-headed knife falling from the sky.
There was a "click" and blood spurted out.
Liu You's body swayed on the horse and suddenly fell to the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust.
(End of this chapter)