Chapter 499 Stability and Return
"Kill! Kill! Kill!" After roaring three times in a row, the Nanyang Kingdom Army, whose number had almost doubled, ended this period of short training and went back to their respective homes to get busy with life.
The number of people has doubled, and the expenditure has hardly increased. In other words, there was not much expenditure before.
They farmed their own land to support themselves, and they also contributed part of the grain and silk to the palace.
The weapons were provided by Yongrao Ye. They are actually very crude. Armor does not exist. A little leather armor would be good. Most people have no armor.
There are also very few bows, just over 300, and some of them are even offset by hunting bows. There are few people who know how to shoot archery, and training them from scratch would be expensive, so we can only talk about it later.
The only expense of the palace is the food supply during the training camp.
As far as recruiting soldiers is concerned, they are in camp all year round. Eat two meals a day when not training, and three meals a day when training or going on an expedition. These farmers usually work at home and farm, so they naturally do not need to provide meals, but when they gather for training, three meals a day are still inevitable.
After practicing for a month, 5,000 people consumed 15,000 hu of food. This expense is really not big and is completely acceptable.
The most important thing is that after practicing it, you can defend the country's borders and suppress the refugees. This is the most important thing.
After the army was disbanded, only a thousand people remained.
They are on a rotational basis and will have to continue to be on duty for another month until they are replaced at the end of April.
With the army surrounding them, Shao Xun was teaching several fort masters a lesson.
"It's just a little fodder, but it's just a fight, and people's lives are caused. How is it decent?" Shao Xun held a riding whip and looked at the two middle-aged men who were glaring at each other and said.
"Reporting to Mr. Ming, these are the grass seeds I brought from Guanxi and sowed them on the wasteland for two years. They have grown quite strong this year, so I sent people to herd them. Who would have thought of this? People just kill people and rob cattle and sheep."
"It's nonsense. Your people are hiding in the trees. Shoot me first."
"Does it make sense for you to rob something?" br>
"That's my family's land, it's just abandoned."
......
Shao Xun regretted a little. He shouldn't have taken care of this mess on a whim. It's not that he couldn't handle it. , but affects mood.
He summoned Cai Cheng and ordered: "Bring the two of them to the Prime Minister's office and clearly define the boundaries of their respective forts."
After speaking, he looked at the two of them and said, "Take action without authorization and kill people. One person is punished with a penalty of fifty people. Can he accept it?"
The two of them looked confused, but they quickly reacted and said in unison: "I will accept it in three days." Inside, gather all the people and send them here." Shao Xun waved his hand and returned to the palace.
The soldiers are already packing their luggage.
Yang Qin took two hundred horses to Juiyang to take Leshi home. After she arrives at Niyang, the army will set off and return to Xuchang - in fact, Yi Congjun has already set off for Fangtou first.
Shao Xun spread out the map on the desk and looked at it silently.
There was a rustling sound next to him. He turned around and saw his daughter approaching him cautiously. Seeing that he had been discovered, he was astonished beyond measure, as if wondering how he could be exposed even with such a light movement.
Shao Xun stretched out his hand, took his daughter into his arms, and continued to look at the map.
"Grandpa, are you leaving?"
"Yeah."
"Where to go?"
"Yeah."
"When will you come back?"
"Yeah."
"Hiss—" Severe pain came from his beard. Shao Xun lowered his head helplessly, kissed his daughter, and said, "My grandpa is going to beat up a man named Da Hu."
"Yes. A big Hu man?"
"That's right. I heard he is quite tall."
"Is he bigger than Liu Xiong?"
"Liu Xiong?"
"That's the groom."
"Oh, Liu Ling. That's not the case. King Kong Slave is extremely talented. Who knows what he ate to grow up to be so strong."
The daughter squirmed in his arms, then stood up carefully.
Shao Xun's eyes wandered back and forth between Fangtou and Huangchi, silently calculating the distance.
How many ships will be gathered?
Where did the ship anchor for the night?
How to prevent being attacked overnight?
Are there places where the water is too shallow to sail?
How is the rainfall this year? In which month is the water level highest? In which month is the water level lowest?
Is there a suitable place to camp near Huangchi?
What is the attitude of the local wealthy families?
There were too many questions. He thought about them and weighed them repeatedly.
The daughter jumped lightly on the table, smiled sheepishly, and then jumped into Shao Xun's arms.
Shao Xun hugged him firmly and focused his eyes on Yecheng again.
When the assassination governor came to report, Shi Le allocated a lot of military rations to Yishui to supply the Northern Expedition army. Therefore, the price of food in Yecheng rose rapidly. In desperation, Taobao, the prefect of Wei County, collected grain from all Wubao and transported it to Yecheng to stabilize grain prices.
There is no doubt that this move has offended the local wealthy families. Is there any chance?
When Yu Chen appeased the wealthy families in Hebei, he only said that the local wealthy families had ambiguous attitudes and were just like grassroots and should not be taken lightly.
The good news is that there are also a few people who have sincerely surrendered and sent protons to Yu Chen. There is nothing to say about their attitude.
My daughter stood up again and jumped on the table.
She stepped on a corner of the map with one foot and subconsciously crushed it, giggling.
Shao Xun reluctantly took her back and said: "If the generals see it, my father's majesty will be completely lost."
He feels a lot of guilt for this daughter who has been absent all year round, and is very indulgent towards her. On the contrary, it was Mrs. Liu who often disciplined and punished her daughter, making her cry, so she came to Shao Xun to complain.
Well, he discovered that the place his daughter stepped on just now was Yecheng...
Is this an omen? No, why am I so superstitious about the boy’s prophecy?
"Don't move around. Grandpa is busy with business." Shao Xun patted his daughter's little head and said softly.
The little girl didn’t answer, but directly grabbed his arm, using all four limbs together, and climbed onto his shoulder.
Shao Xun eliminated the interference and continued to look at the map.
"Plop." When his daughter rolled down from his shoulder, she accidentally fell to the ground. It was nothing at first, but when he saw Shao Xun turning his head to look, his mouth flattened and he burst into tears.
"Haha." Shao Xun was amused. He turned around and picked her up. After a few soft words of comfort, he asked her to sit cross-legged next to him and stop causing trouble. His finger continued to trace on the map.
The Heijian Army and the Xuchang Shibing Army have already gone north. Their mission is to escort a batch of grain and grass to Fangtou and then station themselves there.
Ding Zhuang from Xiangcheng also returned, and they will be disbanded on the spot.
The seven counties of Liang, Luyang, Yangzhai, Yangcheng, Ye, Xincheng, and Luhun gathered five thousand men and went to Fangtou to listen to the order. This was the auxiliary army.
The counties in Luonan have not fought a war for some years, and they have always not drafted troops. The people are not accustomed to fighting, and sooner or later they will become useless. They are not even qualified to be auxiliary soldiers. This time they will draft a group.
Ningping City, Kao City, and Yingyang sent out five thousand garrison troops, which were also auxiliary troops.
Coupled with the 20,000 soldiers transferred from Nanyang, the military strength this time is very large. At a rough calculation, there are still 50,000 or 60,000 soldiers.
Luonan Dingzhuang will be recruited at the end of the month and march to Puyang.
The garrison army set off in April.
At that time, a group of foreign troops may also be recruited, such as the Chenliu Begging Army, the residents of Xingyangwu Fort, the troops of the Yanhao Clan in Henan, etc., and the scale will be even larger.
How to fight? How to deploy troops? Should we divide our troops? How should we divide our troops? These are all things that need to be carefully considered.
Thinking about it, he gently stroked his daughter's little head and carefully weighed the pros and cons.
Mr. Liu came to the door of the study with tea and looked a little dazed when she saw this scene.
After a while, the circles under his eyes turned a little red.
In troubled times, it is such a rare thing for a family to be so harmonious and beautiful.
She adjusted her mood, smiled at the corner of her mouth, placed the tea on another table a few times, and said: "After looking at it for a long time, I can still see that the flowers are not ready, so take a rest first."
The little daughter cheered. Although she was often beaten by her mother until she cried, she still threw herself into her mother's arms. After rubbing her face, she jumped up to the table, grabbed a piece of cut marrow cake, and was just about to go to it. He stuffed his mouth, rolled his eyes, and ran to Shao Xun's side. He handed over his hand and said, "Master, let's eat for you."
Ms. Liu covered her mouth and snickered.
My daughter is much more powerful than she is. She knows how to flatter someone at a young age and can coax a decisive warrior into turning around.
Shao Xun took the marrow cake very helpfully and took a bite. What his daughter gave him was fragrant and he didn’t say anything.
"Mom, you eat too." The younger daughter picked up another piece of marrow cake and handed it to Mrs. Liu.
Liu took it gently.
The daughter took her hand again and asked her to sit next to Shao Xun, then walked around behind the two of them and squeezed in from the middle.
She turned her head to the left to look at her father, then turned to the right to look at her mother, with a satisfied look on her face.
Shao Xun was touched.
Originally, I wanted Mrs. Liu to persist in Nanyang, but now I think about it, if I can take her back to Fuzhong as soon as possible, I will take her back as soon as possible.
This daughter is so quirky that she still coaxed her grandparents into a coward after she returned home.
"Something happened in Nanyang, it's time to go back." After eating the marrow cake, Shao Xun said: "I have been here for almost a month. The officials in the palace have finished adjusting and all affairs are handled well."
"There are 5,000 soldiers in the Royal Army, and Yuan Xi will take them with him. It's not a big problem. I will finish the training in March, I will be busy with farm work in April and May, and I will train for another half month in June. Maybe it won't become a strong force, but It’s enough to protect the kingdom.”
“After the autumn harvest, we will leave it fallow this winter to conserve the soil. We will plant millet next spring and wheat after the autumn harvest.”
“The Kansai refugees who are weak will stay here temporarily. Recuperate in the kingdom. Those who can no longer walk will be given some wasteland to support themselves. Those who are strong will be sent to Runan in batches. "
"There are so many common people and scholars in the kingdom, don't forget about the election. Those who are promoted are all our own people, so you can rest assured when using them."
"There are dedicated people to take care of these things. As the Princess of Nanyang, Don't stay out of the situation completely. Sometimes you can make some comments to let the palace officials know who is the real master. You have been with Hua Nu for a long time and you have seen how she behaves."
Finished. , Shao Xun took Liu's hand and looked at her.
"Well, I listen to you." Liu said softly.
As long as you can protect me, give me a home, and let me live peacefully in troubled times, how can I not listen to you?
However, she also has extravagant hopes, that is, she can take her daughter into the Shao Mansion, and she does not want to continue to be an outhouse without any explanation.
Shao Xun seemed to understand her thoughts and nodded slightly.
It is easy for a married woman to recognize reality.
At first, she was horrified and even slapped him.
Now, when the moon sets in the west window, she holds her hands on the window sill and already knows how to move her buttocks back.
Jiu Kuang's wife was so wet that she sucked him clean every day.
"Write a letter for me again." Shao Xun said again.
"What letter?" Mrs. Liu was a little stunned.
In her current life, besides her "husband", she is her daughter. She occasionally writes letters to Mr. Pei and hardly interacts with outsiders.
“Aren’t you from the Liu family in Pingyuan?” Shao Xun was a little embarrassed, but he still said: “Since you have relatives at home, you might as well write a few letters for me. I will take you back to Pingyuan in the future. Family visit."
Ms. Liu was in a daze.
Who doesn’t miss home?
But his parents died young, and there were only a few brothers and sisters in the family. Since the death of King Nanyang, contact has gradually been lost.
The family relationship is so weak, what else is there to say?
But if Shao Xun asked her to write a letter, she would not refuse. What's more, she really wanted to go home and visit, if possible.
"Okay." Mrs. Liu nodded and said, "Wait a moment, I'll write it right away."
Pingyuan Liu family, like Wancheng Liu family, are both descendants of the Han clan.
The Pingyuan Liu family is the second son of Liu Chang, King Li of Huainan in the former Han Dynasty, and Liu Bo (grandson of Liu Bang), King Zhen of Jibei. It has been passed down for hundreds of years and is like a large Pingyuan clan.
After Liu Fa, the son of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty and Prince Ding of Changsha, the Wancheng Liu family did not do well in Wancheng, and their family status was far worse than that of the Pingyuan Liu family.
Others, such as the Liu family of Zhongshan and the Liu family of Peiguo, are also aristocratic families that evolved from the clans of the Han Dynasty.
In the fight against Hebei, he really needs the help of these rich people, or in other words, rebels.
This is both a military war and a political war, and the two are inseparable.
After the Cold Food Festival, Shao Xun led his army to leave Niyang and return north to Xuchang.
February came and April left. In two months, Wancheng was quickly captured and the situation in the rear was stabilized. It was as fast as lightning.
If the time had not been right, he would have wanted to stay here for a while to further consolidate his rule.
But the war situation in Hebei is more important, but there is no way to force him to stay.
(End of this chapter)