Chapter 405: Squatting

Chapter 405: Squatting

Chapter 405: Squatting
May is commonly known as the evil month and there are many taboos in it, one of which is the prohibition of building houses.

As to whether building a city counts as building a house, that depends on one's own opinion.

When Shao Xun received the city construction details sent by the court, he looked at them for a long time and then gave his opinion.

The city near the Nan'an Ferry is not small, divided into two cities, the inner and outer cities, with a circumference of more than ten miles.

The city on the sandbar in the river is much smaller.

The imperial court sent people to survey the area and determined that even if they chose the widest location, they could only build a small city of about four miles, and there would be no outer city, which was smaller than many county towns.

Well, a smaller county town is only this big, but as a military facility, a city this size is obviously not suitable. The main problem is that it cannot store too many supplies.

But given the objective conditions, there is no better solution.

If several sandbanks were connected together to form a large piece of land like in the Sui and Tang dynasties, there would be much more room for maneuver.

"What do you think of Xun Song?" Shao Xun was leaning on the Hu bed, as if he had just finished bathing. His robe was loose and it was very likely that he was not wearing anything underneath.

Wang Xuan, who came from Luoyang, didn't care.

When scholars entertain guests, there shouldn't be too many such scenes. It's just that Shao Xun didn't have such a bohemian style before, so he felt a little strange.

"This man is the great-great-grandson of Xun Yu, and he is fond of literature..." Wang Xuan said.

"Stop." Shao Xun stretched out his hand to stop him, and said, "If I remember correctly, this person has a close relationship with Wang Dun, Lu Ji, Gu Rong and others. They often play together, recite poems and write essays. But if you say he has any military strategies, it's not necessarily the case, right?"

As soon as the word "Wang Dun" came out, a noise came from the next room.

Wang Xuan didn't care, because after hearing what Shao Xun said, he was indeed a little worried.

"It's useless to worry now." Shao Xun said, "I just hope Xun Song won't give orders blindly."

Learn from Wang Dun and let your subordinates do the work.

The Left Guard, Right Guard, and Cavalry all have generals, and under the generals are the three governors, the palace generals, and the colonels...

As long as they don't act recklessly, the army may be slow and stupid, but it is not without the ability to fight. After all, Wang Mi is not that strong.

Wang Xuan shared the same view, but was still a little worried. In the end, he just sighed softly.

"How is the preparation of food, fodder and military equipment going?" Shao Xun asked again.

"We are short of military equipment, so we can only allocate some of it first." Wang Xuan said, "But it is difficult to get food and grass. Shouchun has just transported the first batch of food, and the second batch of ships has not yet set off. We can only allocate 100,000 hu of millet first, and the rest will be in late June or early July."

Shao Xun glared at him and said, "I have mobilized so many soldiers and horses, and the monthly food and fodder expenditure is 80,000 hu. How long will 100,000 hu last?"

“Use it first…” Wang Xuan was a little embarrassed.

Who should be blamed for this? It seems that the emperor should be blamed.

After the Chinese New Year this year, a large number of people from Luoyang left Huanyuan in the east, passed through Yuzhou and went south to Yangzhou. The population of Luoyang decreased by a considerable amount, and the food consumption was not so great.

Upon seeing this, the emperor used food as bait to recruit strong men from the refugees to join the imperial army and launched the Battle of Xin'an.

As a result, food suddenly became scarce.

To put it bluntly, after deducting the 100,000 hu of grain spent on Shao Xun, the grain reserves in the Dongyang Gate Taicang were only enough to last until July.

If there were no grain ships arriving in June and July, we would have to wait until the autumn harvest in August to see if we could get some more grain.

But how long can this last? I am afraid it will not even last this year, after all, Luoyang's agricultural production has been severely damaged.

But that's not the scariest thing.

What worries people most is what should we do if one day there is no grain transported to Beijing from Jiangdong, Xuzhou and other places?
"You're always doing nonsense." Shao Xun said unhappily, "Wang Mi wants to fight, but not now. Or maybe the emperor has thought it through and can only start a war in one of Xin'an and Mengjin. Do you still think it was when the Great Jin was at its peak?"

After hearing this, Wang Xuan felt even more disgusted with the emperor and sighed repeatedly.

Come to think of it, the food and grass were not yet determined, and the war was suddenly launched. Is this how war is fought? Considering that this time the troops were sent out completely by the emperor's "irrational" threat of moving the capital, it was even more unlucky.

The emperor wanted to move the capital, but his ministers were reluctant and tried to dissuade him. The emperor took the opportunity to bargain, and eventually created this mess.

"When will you leave, my lord?" Wang Xuan stopped dwelling on these troublesome matters and changed the subject.

"Just in the next few days." Shao Xun said, "I have transferred 50,000 hu of millet from Xinzheng Warehouse, but it has not yet been shipped. Let me be frank, if I don't see the military rations in July, I will quit my job."

Wang Xuan knew very well that even if July really did not give Shao Xun military rations, he would not really quit, but would find a way to transfer food from Yuzhou and supplement his own income.

But that's not how it works. Even if the imperial court is short of food, they have to find a way to squeeze out some. So he said generously: "Don't worry, my lord. I will definitely transfer 100,000 hu of military rations to Mengjin by mid-July at the latest."

Shao Xun did not comment.

Your promise, Wang Xuan, is useless. Apart from anything else, if the battle of Xin'an fails and Wang Mi attacks Luoyang, how will you transport food? If that happens, it will cause me to come back from the front line to help, which will be a problem.

"Let's do this for now." Shao Xun said, "Report the situation in Xin'an once a day and send it to our army by express horse. Before the autumn harvest in August, I will send the Zhongwu Army to the north to attack the two tombs of Xiaoban and Mingchi to contain the enemy. As for the rest, the court can figure it out on its own. Remember, prudence is the best way."

There is a strange phenomenon on the battlefield, that is, after a major battle breaks out, the losing side will retreat greatly and give up a lot of land. Especially in places with difficult terrain, when they are defeated, they have no desire to fight, everyone is scrambling to save their lives and fleeing, and they easily give up the land. When they adjust later and want to regain the land, they have to pay a heavy price because the enemy already has the advantage of terrain.

Xin'an belongs to this category.

In the past two years, the Xiongnu had not failed to advance from this direction, and the imperial court had not failed to fight the Xiongnu in Xin'an or even further west, but each time the Xiongnu withdrew, they did not occupy this land. After Guanzhong was taken, they had no worries and directly occupied Hongnong and gave it to Wang Mi.

Wang Mi only controlled five counties, so he was much more motivated than the Xiongnu and naturally managed the territory well. If the imperial court wanted to take back Xin'an now, it would definitely have to pay a bloody price.

"By the way, has the imperial court ever mobilized troops from other states and counties?" Shao Xun asked.

"Yes." Wang Xuan nodded affirmatively and said, "Jingxiang is still in the midst of war and cannot spare troops, but Xiangyang still sent 3,000 soldiers north. Yangzhou, however, has no troops to dispatch."

Shao Xun nodded.

The reason why he asked this question was purely to analyze how much prestige the court still had left.

During the Sima Yue era, although Luoyang was besieged many times, Yangzhou still sent troops twice. One was the Huainan troops led by Wang Kuang, who were completely wiped out in Shangdang; the other was the Wuxing troops led by Qian Kui, who rebelled directly in Guangling because of fear of the Huns.

Jingzhou also sent 5,000 soldiers northward, but they turned back halfway because the siege of Luoyang had been lifted.

After Sima Yue's death, the situation in Luoyang remained difficult. At this time, only Jingzhou was willing to send troops, while Jiangdong refused the court's call in silence - this was not Sima Rui's fault, but the nobles in Wu were unwilling to send troops.

Fortunately, they are still willing to provide money and food.

If one day they were unwilling to pay taxes and grain, the prestige of the Luoyang court would be completely destroyed. What would be left might be just a little bit of righteousness, and even the appointment and dismissal of officials might not be possible.

"You can go back." Shao Xun sighed and said, "Take care of yourself. If your family can move out of Luoyang, please do so."

"Jingfeng and Huifeng no longer live in Luoyang." Wang Xuan said subconsciously.

Shao Xun looked at him amusedly and said nothing.

He didn't think about women at the moment. He was very virtuous and didn't want to argue with her.

After sending Wang Xuan away, Shao Xun had the Hu bed moved outside the window of Concubine Pei's bedroom and had a conversation with her.

"...Are you confident of winning this battle?" asked Concubine Pei.

There was a child crying in the house, as if the child was hungry, but fortunately the child stopped crying after a while.

Shao Xun was itching to listen to this and said, "How can you be sure or not in a war? But blocking the river to repel the enemy is better than taking the risk of a surprise attack."

The last time we fought the Huns it was a mobile war, but this time if nothing unexpected happens it will be a squatting war, there is a big difference.

But this is very suitable for him who is mainly an infantryman, because his mobility is really poor.

"Yes." Concubine Pei's voice came again: "Don't be so stubborn, we are waiting for you to come back."

"Okay." Shao Xun said, "Unless Liu Cong appears in front of me, I will dig deep trenches and build high fortifications to defend myself."

"Are you sure about Yanzhou?" Concubine Pei asked again.

"Nothing is going to happen for now. It's hard to say when the harvest will come in August." Shao Xun said, "But don't worry. It's nothing more than a matter of time."

Concubine Pei was silent for a while, then continued: "Last year, the Xiongnu suffered a loss. Will they come again when the river freezes over this year?"

Shao Xun frowned and said, "You know what, this is really possible."

Compared with the Yangtze River, the Yellow River has a fatal flaw, which is that it freezes in winter, and there are many places where people, horses and vehicles can pass directly.

During the Eastern and Western Wei dynasties, the Western Wei often conscripted civilians to cut ice in key river sections to prevent the Eastern Wei army from crossing the river.

After all, the Yellow River is not the Yangtze River, so it’s hard to compare them.

"Don't worry, I have a plan." Shao Xun said, "You stay at home and take care of the child first. Don't worry about me. Wait for me to come back."

"Yes." Concubine Pei said softly, "Hold the child more after you come back."

"Regarding Princess Xiangcheng's matter..." Shao Xun hesitated for a long time, and finally asked.

"She will not marry into the Shao family. She is a wife of the Wang family." Concubine Pei only said this and said no more.

Shao Xun didn't know how to describe his feelings.

When your wife is unable to serve you, introduce your relatives to you.

If Yu Wenjun is pregnant, it seems that he can still play with his wife's best friend?
Really...

On the last day of May, Shao Xun received a letter from Yu Wenjun.

The girl has returned to Xuchang to serve her parents-in-law and manage the family business.

Shao Xun had never seen such a long letter, it was several pages long.

The little girl shared every interesting thing with him, which made Shao Xun feel more guilty.

I swear again to keep Jill under control.

After swearing the oath, he wrote a reply letter, then strode out of Kaocheng and headed north with his entire army.

(End of this chapter)