Chapter 217 Cui Gong

Chapter 217 Cui Gong

Chapter 217 Cui Gong
On summer nights, the stars are shining brightly.

There were few mosquitoes due to the strong night wind.

Shao Xun lay in the cabin with his hands as pillow, feeling extremely comfortable.

Mrs. Le was sitting on the dock, holding their eldest son "Jin Dao" and playing with him.

"Jindao" is a nickname, and it was named after the golden knife toy that I fell in love with at first sight.

As the first child in the family, Jin Dao was very much loved.

Not to mention my grandparents, they were fighting to hold me in their arms and were extremely happy.

The only thing that made them dissatisfied was probably that Nanyang actually sent a wet nurse over to take care of the children, depriving them of a lot of fun.

In addition, the dominance of Xifu's family also made them feel a little uncomfortable.

Being related to a prominent family is extremely stressful for them, but they usually don't talk about it because they don't want to add to their son's psychological burden - in fact, they only see their son for a few days a year.

After Jin Dao finished feeding, he laughed foolishly in his mother's arms for a while, then turned his head from time to time and stared at his father.

Lan Ji continued to tease him but was never able to fully capture his attention.

Finally she gave up, handed the golden knife to the nanny, went to the boat and sat next to Shao Xun.

Shao Xun moved aside, untied the rope, then hugged Lan Ji in his arms, and they lay side by side looking at the night sky.

The boat was drifting in the lake, not knowing where to go.

Le's literary youth disease soon came back. Looking at the sky full of stars, she asked, "My dear, which one is Vega?"

Shao Xun tried to open his eyes wide, pretending to look carefully for a long time, and finally said regretfully: "I didn't see it."

Le chuckled twice and rested her head in his arms.

Shao Xun adjusted his posture to make Lan Ji in his arms more comfortable.

There is no other way. The project managers of Nanyang "Le's Group" are working in Guangchengze, and Huangmao must serve the eldest lady of the group well.

Unconsciously, the offensive and defensive situation changed, and Shao Xun no longer dared to stand up and ride his bicycle.

"When is the next expedition?" Le's voice was ethereal and clear, as if it came from the mountains.

"I don't know." Shao Xun gently stroked the woman's back and said, "The Xiongnu have already attacked Hedong. Sooner or later, some people will think of me."

Beigong Chun returned home with the Liangzhou soldiers. When he passed through Hedong County, he taught the Huns a severe lesson, defeated Liu Cong, beheaded more than 3,000 of them, and then left in a cool manner.

The Huns dared not take any action for a whole month.

Only after confirming that the Liangzhou soldiers would not return did they gather their troops and launch a fierce attack on Pingyang and Hedong counties.

Pingyang prefect Song Chu abandoned the city and fled, and Hedong prefect Lu Shu was killed in the battle.

In order to better control these two rich counties, Liu Yuan moved the capital to Puzi County.

Lu Zhuyan, the leader of the four Xianbei tribes in Shangjun, Guanzhong, and Shan Zheng, the chief of the Di people, who were separated by a river, surrendered to Liu Yuan.

Shangjun was once occupied by the Southern Xiongnu during the Three Kingdoms period. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, it was divided into four states: Xia, Sui, Yin and Lin. In the Song Dynasty, it was the site of a stalemate between the Song and Xia dynasties.

These four Xianbei tribes and one Di tribe seemed to be specially prepared for Liu Yuan. After unlocking a certain reputation, he could capture them without bloodshed, allowing him to successfully extend his sphere of influence to the Hetao area west of the Yellow River.

Faced with the Huns' aggressive offensive, Grand Tutor Sima Yue was still haggling with the emperor, shouting slogans loudly and saying that he would mobilize troops against the Huns, but he was dragging his feet and has not yet completed the deployment of troops, let alone formally mobilized troops.

"If the Huns attack and we can't hold on..." Le was trembling slightly when she said this, and it was unknown what she was afraid of.

"Just come back to Nanyang with me." After a moment, she looked at Shao Xun and said with expectant eyes.

"Live to be a son-in-law?" Shao Xun made a joke.

"It would be great if you could marry me..." Le said vaguely.

"I won't leave." Shao Xun looked at the sky and said, "This time I'll run to Nanyang, next time I'll run to Xiangyang, and then I'll run to Jiangxia. When will it end?"

Le raised her head from his arms and said, "When I was in Yecheng, I met Liu Yuan and Liu Cong, father and son."

"Pa!" Shao Xun patted her hips and said, "How can a man live like this?"

After saying this, perhaps feeling that this was not appropriate, he said in a joking tone: "If we catch this father and son in the future, we must make them come to pay homage to the Princess of Chengdu."

Le pinched him lightly, but her face was also a little hot, so she quietly buried herself in the man's arms.

In the cool night breeze, the boat has drifted to the center of the lake.

The starry sky is reflected in the lake, which is a beautiful sight.

The croaking of frogs by the lake gradually faded away, and the sound of fish leaping out of the water could be heard occasionally.

The quiet night, the calm before the storm, is so beautiful.

"In the future, I will store millions of hu of military rations and 100,000 horses in Guangchengze, train 50,000 elite soldiers, and sweep across..." The high-quality male's speech was only half finished when Shao Xun suddenly realized that the woman in his arms had fallen asleep.

He adjusted his posture to make the woman sleep more comfortably, and then silently planned the construction of Guangchengze.

******
At the end of July, Shao Xun received a group of guests from Hebei at Zhilanyuan.

The leader was named Cui Gong, and others called him "Mr. Cui". It was heard that he was an old acquaintance of Lu Zhi.

Lord Cui looked gloomy, staring at Shao Xun for a long time, and finally said: "Your Excellency, I'm afraid you don't know that I have served in Shi Le's army?" "Oh? Is that true?" Shao Xun laughed and said, "Last year when we attacked Jisang, I finally missed the chance to meet Lord Cui. What a pity. What kind of person is Shi Le?"

"He has great ambitions and knows the sufferings of the people. He may be a little immature now, but he will definitely be a great trouble to you in the future," said Cui Gong.

"That means, Shi Le is not as good as me right now," Shao Xun said.

"Shi Le already has tens of thousands of cavalry, but you are not as good as him," Cui Gong said bluntly.

"Shi Le persuaded the various Hu people to surrender, and they did have a lot of cavalry." Shao Xun nodded in agreement.

"Shi Le's troops are not as well-equipped as yours." Cui Gong added, "It is good to lean against a big tree for shade. You have the Luoyang and Xuchang arsenals to supply you with weapons, but Shi Le is far inferior. However, I have been to Yiyang, Liangxian, and Luyang, but I don't see many craftsmen. Why is that?"

"To be honest, I have been on several expeditions and captured many craftsmen, about five or six hundred in total, and now I have settled them in Ruyang."

"Ruyang?" Cui Gong was stunned.

"At the edge of Guangcheng Jersey."

"I see." Cui Gong nodded and asked, "How many of these hundreds of craftsmen can make iron tools?"

"Less than half." Shao Xun said.

In fact, blacksmiths are also strategic resources.

Among blacksmiths, those who are good at making weapons are important strategic resources.

The nearly 600 craftsmen captured by Shao Xun were mainly from Ji Sang and Wang Mi, and a small number were recruited by himself.

Among these people, the proportion of blacksmiths is very high, which is related to the fact that the migrant army focuses on recruiting such talents.

But their skills in making weapons varied greatly, and were far inferior to those made by the craftsmen in Luoyang.

Shao Xun placed them in the newly established Ruyang Defense to the west of Guangchengze. This defense housed 300 soldiers from the government, but only more than 200 of them have arrived so far. In the future, together with the Nanshan Defense, it will take on the defense of the upper reaches of the Ru River.

The main task of this group of blacksmiths at this stage is to make farm tools and then sell them to the soldiers.

At other times, they are also tasked with repairing military equipment to make up for losses during training.

In addition to the blacksmiths, there were about three hundred carpenters, bamboo makers, painters, leatherworkers and other miscellaneous craftsmen.

Overall, Shao Xun actually has a lot of craftsmen resources at his disposal, but compared to his ambitious plans, it is still far from enough, even though these craftsmen are already taking apprentices.

"It seems that you have an idea in your mind, so I won't say much." Cui Gongfang passed this section and brought up another matter: "Among the forts in Yiyang, only Yunzhongwu has dozens of acres of mulberry forest, but the years are very short. Yushanwu has hundreds of acres, but it is only a few years old. The three areas of Jinguyuan add up to about a hundred acres, but there are few mulberry forests that are more than ten years old. I heard that you attach great importance to the use of bows when training soldiers, why don't you let the people plant more mulberry trees? One is that they can produce more silk, and the other is that they can make bow tips. Such an important matter is actually not taken seriously. Tsk tsk..."

Of course, the bow tip does not have to be made of mulberry wood.

But considering the sericulture industry, it is an economic crop that can combine farming and warfare, which is very important.

Moreover, mulberry wood is also a very good material for chariots. The wood scraps from the chariot-making process are also suitable for making horse whips, knife handles, and wooden sticks, with a high utilization rate.

"The fort was newly built, and the manor was repeatedly destroyed by war, leading to this situation." Shao Xun explained, and then said: "Mr. Cui's words are very reasonable. However, there are many complicated things to do, and I have never started..."

"Forget it." Cui Gong said, "Lu Zidao has already considered this for you. Every household in Qinghe raises silkworms and weaves cloth. Qinghe silk is also sold in the north and is well-known in all the counties. Lu Zidao keeps asking for help every other day, which is very annoying. Since I have taken over the position of Luyang Xiang, I have brought several strategists who are good at this. You just need to allocate land and recruit refugees."

"The affairs of Luyang County are all entrusted to Mr. Cui." Shao Xun bowed solemnly and said.

Cui Gong accepted the gift calmly, stroked his beard and smiled, "Your Excellency needs to be brave and good at fighting. If the war goes badly, like the counties in Hebei, then everything will be over."

"How is the battle situation in Hebei?" Shao Xun asked.

"This year Shi Le attacked Changshan and was defeated by Wang Jun." Cui Gong said, "In my opinion, Shi Le was just trying out his skills. After some time, he will definitely enter Hebei again. He Yuzhen Ye, without soldiers and money, can't stop Shi Le and Shi Chao. Wang Jun has relied on Xianbei to fight for many years, and his Youzhou soldiers have not been trained well. Now that the Xiongnu are attacking, he is in a panic. He has to open the treasury, feed the soldiers, and train the soldiers, but he doesn't know if it is too late. To be honest, this matter is inseparable from you, Your Majesty."

This year, when Shi Le attacked Changshan, it was indeed Wang Jun who defeated him independently.

But as Cui Gong said, the Xiongnu's focus was on Hedong and Pingyang counties, and Shi Le was only a small force.

If a large army is gathered to attack Changshan next year, what will Wang Jun do?
Shao Xun has to bear this blame firmly on his shoulders and cannot get rid of it.

"Can Wang Jun still call upon the Duan tribe of Xianbei?" he asked with a laugh.

Cui Gong thought for a moment and said, "He can be called upon. Duan Wuwuchen is his son-in-law after all, so it's not good to offend him. However, I heard that after Wang Jun defeated Shi Le, he sent a part of his army eastward to help Duan's Xianbei resist the enemy. I guess Duan Wuwuchen is also in trouble."

"If it really doesn't work, he still has a Wuhuan son-in-law, Su Shuyan, who can surely be asked to help in the battle." Cui Gong teased again.

Shao Xun smiled.

Wang Jun treated his daughters as tools, marrying one to the leader of the Xianbei and the other to the leader of the Wuhuan. He then recruited the barbarians as his helpers and became very powerful in Hebei.

After defeating Sima Ying, the Wuhuan people joined the war. I wonder if it has anything to do with his son-in-law Su Shuyan.

Think about the early years of the Ming Dynasty, when the Youzhou Tuqi Du (armored cavalry) recruited Youzhou men to serve as soldiers in Luoyang.

It's only been a few decades, and Youzhou's military resources are no longer good? I don't know what Wang Jun was thinking.

However, if Wang Jun fails to stand up, Hebei will be in real trouble.

Shao Xun absolutely did not believe that Sima Yue could handle the situation in Hebei.

I didn't expect that when they were besieging the Xianbei cavalry in Chang'an, they ended up assisting Shi Le. It was really outrageous.

It is better to take care of your own affairs first. It is unreliable to rely on others.

(End of this chapter)