Chapter 671: Troops and Horses Move, Food and Grass Delivered

Chapter 671: Troops and Horses Move, Food and Grass Delivered

Chapter 671: Troops and Horses Move, Food and Grass Delivered

On the outskirts of Xuchang, the soldiers bid farewell to their families and prepared to set off.

Zhang Gou looked at his shack-like house and said to his family members who were seeing him off, "I will definitely make some achievements when I go north this time. It's better not to have this shabby house that has been passed down for generations."

The house has been passed down for several generations, but it is still passed down within one family, just like their pitiful little land - the land is not theirs either.

The only way out for hereditary soldiers is to risk their lives to make meritorious deeds and then be selected as a government soldier.

However, there are limited places for government soldiers and the competition is fierce, so it is not easy to get one.

This is the tragedy of the lower-class military households. Opportunities are so few and they have to risk their lives to fight for them.

Wang Cai is still busy in the fields.

"Husband, the team is already shouting." The wife came over, snatched the sickle, and started cutting the grass skillfully.

Wang Cai looked at his wife's hands, which were as dry as tree bark from doing farm work, and sighed, then he tied up the cut grass.

Indeed, someone was urging him to do more work on the farm. Not only had the deputy team leader come, but the team leader had also come once. However, Wang Cai still wanted to seize the last time and do as much farm work as possible for his family.

After going to war, swords and guns are indiscriminate. Who dares to say that he will be able to come back?

Wang continued to bundle the hay until the deputy team leader who passed by yelled at him again. Then he reluctantly put down his sickle and walked away, looking back every few steps.

In a four-courtyard house outside the city of Xuchang, Liu Shan finished his breakfast, picked up a halberd and swung it twice.

The movements were still in place, but only he knew that as he got older, his strength was slipping away bit by bit.

At fifty, you are no longer young.

He looked down at the halberd in his hand and sighed softly.

I used it when I was young, fighting with my comrades in arms. When I got old, my comrades were nowhere to be seen, and only the halberd remained by my side.

If he could be 20 or 30 years younger, the world today would be exactly where he could make his mark.

The nephew lacks capable relatives. So far, there are only three people: General Huwei Shao Shen, General Inspector Shao Guang, and Inspector of Traitors Shao Fan. Unfortunately, his uncle's family is also short of talents and cannot provide him with much help.

His two older sons, one named Liu Bin, was of mediocre talent, just an average appearance, and was the governor of the Puyang Prefecture Military Department, and was promoted by his nephew because of their kinship; the other named Liu Fang, was a law enforcement officer under Shao Fan, and was busy with secret affairs all day long, and was unable to make achievements and kill the enemies in an upright manner.

In the end, he, an old man with half his body buried in the ground, had to take up the battle.

Unfortunately, he could no longer draw the strongest bow, his accuracy when riding and shooting was much lower than when he was young, he could not fight for long on foot before running out of energy, and his brain did not seem to work as quickly as before.

Now he can only manage the auxiliary troops - with the level of Xuchang's hereditary soldiers, it is between combat soldiers and auxiliary troops, and closer to auxiliary troops.

"The children must not fall behind in their studies." Before leaving, Liu Shan looked at his wives and concubines and family members and said, "Xiao Chong was already famous in Luoyang when he was just a young man. You should learn from him."

After saying that, he looked at his wife and said, "The new house in Jishanfang, Bianliang, go and have a look when you have time, and visit your brother-in-law and sister by the way."

Bianliang is a new city. According to the plan, it will adopt the lifang system, similar to Yecheng.

The city had not been built yet, but the foundations of various buildings had been divided. Jishanfang was a neighborhood close to the palace, and many dignitaries wanted to buy land and build houses here. Liu Shan did not pay, so his nephew directly gave him a piece of land. He built the house with his own money, and it was half completed.

Since last year, a large number of refugees have crossed the river to beg for food, and the price of labor has dropped to dust. Many officials and generals took out food and hired these people to build houses for themselves, which was a private version of work-for-relief. Objectively speaking, it reduced the expenditure of Liang State on relief grain.

"Okay, husband, be careful," the wife replied.

Liu Shan looked at the concubines he had just taken in after coming to Luoyang and said, "Take good care of the children."

After saying that, he strode out of the door.

The personal soldiers brought the horses over, and Liu Shan jumped on them and checked them carefully.

In the scabbard were inserted a bow, an iron sword, and a saber, and a small round shield was tied to the side.

In the saddlebags were several short throwing spears and a small amount of water.

He held a long halberd in his hand and had a quiver on his waist.

Enough, march out!
******
The huge army set out from Xuchang, joined up with a part of the Silver Spear Left Camp from Xiangcheng, headed north from Yique, and headed straight to Heyang.

Yu Liang led a group of scholars and young men to Bianliang.

After returning to Xuchang in late July and early August, he sent people to various places to gather together the children of scholars he was familiar with.

Half a month later, almost all the people from near and far had arrived.

Yu Liang was very satisfied with this, as his appeal was increasing every year.

Especially the scholars who had previously opposed him, when they saw him being respectful, they couldn't help but sneer: "You must be cursing me in your heart, right? Don't think you can fool me by pretending to be submissive, we'll see."

After briefing them, he decided on a number: depending on the wealth of each family, they would collect between 50,000 and 100,000 tons of grain.

This number hit the psychological bottom line of the powerful families. After a long haggling, they reluctantly made a small discount and finally collected more than 700,000 hu of grain - Yu Liang asked the gentry to levy a share, and the gentry asked the powerful families who were dependent on them to levy a share.

This trip back to Bianliang was the request of Lord Liang. He wanted to bring the five nobles and powerful sons who donated the most grain with him. He wanted to "recruit them according to their talents" - to grant them the positions of Lingshi of the various departments of the shogunate and Sheren of Liang. The group was happy and talked and laughed, and arrived at Guanfeng Hall on August 20th.

Shao Xun met Yu Liang in the bamboo forest of Lichuntai.

"The Chen family of Xuchang donated 100,000 hu of grain and gave it to a Liang State official to be in charge of communication matters." Shao Xun said as he looked at the list handed over by Yu Liang.

There is no fixed number of Sheren (Sheren), and it can even be said that there are many Sheren (Sheren), and they are in charge of different affairs.

Among the officials appointed by Prime Minister Yu Chen, Imperial Censor Pan Tao and others, there were servants - they paid their own expenses.

People like Liu Bai and Yang Kai were Shao Xun's direct subordinates. The former did the work of a writer and specialized in drafting orders, while the latter went out on field trips to convey orders and then retrieve the more important memorials from Prime Minister Yu Chen and present them to Shao Xun for his reading.

The servant promised to Chen this time is to do the same work as Yang Kai in order to share his pressure.

As Liang State became more and more stable, there were more and more affairs, and new positions were needed, no matter who they were given. At this time, after comprehensive consideration, of course, the one who contributed the most grain was given - among the various clans in Yingchuan, the Chen clan ranked second, second only to the Yu clan in terms of grain contribution of 120,000 hu.

"Zao family is also working so hard? Donating 91,000 hu of grain?" Shao Xun said again, looking at the list.

"I heard that Zao Song tried his best to persuade his clansmen and even borrowed 30,000 hu of grain from a familiar friend." Yu Liang said with a smile.

The Zao family of Changsha had fallen into decline, and their family assets were not abundant, so much so that they had to borrow grain...

"You can be appointed as the Clerk of the Mo Cao in the General's Office." Shao Xun shook the list and said.

Mocao is a newly established department.

The two Jishidu (Yang Yu and Jing Chan) of the Shogun's Office had been complaining about the lack of staff and being too busy, so Shao Xun just approved the establishment of Mocao to recruit writers to be managed by Jishidu. After the shogunate's military officers and other close officials were deeply involved in the Cao, some shogunates would set up the post of Jishidu to specifically manage Mocao, where writers gathered.

"Changping Yin family..." Shao Xun pondered for a while, and said: "Yin Xi has made many military achievements in Zhuosheng Army, and he is worthy of important positions. After this battle, transfer him back. The chief officer of the cavalry department of the general's mansion will be promoted from Lingshi to Yuan, and he will take the position."

The Yicong Army and the Zhuosheng Army were Liang State troops, and the Cavalry Cao had no control over them.

Theoretically, they could only control the cavalry outside the territory of Liang State.

In fact, it was a great power. For example, when the Hu tribes were assembled into an army, they were directly managed by the Cavalry Cao.

After the battle, the cavalry corps was disbanded and no longer under the jurisdiction of the cavalry corps. However, this was a war era, and the cavalry corps had considerable influence on the Hu tribes. Therefore, the shogunate officials such as the cavalry clerk or the cavalry official were typical of low-ranking officials with great power.

Yu Liang was delighted when he heard this.

The Yu family and the Yin family had a close relationship and could be considered political allies. With the promotion of Yin Xi, the deputy governor of the Zhuosheng Army, the Yu family would also be able to expand its influence.

"Xun Shi should give him a recorder position. If there is a vacancy in Liang State or the general's office, he should take up the post." Shao Xun finally said: "Yuan Zhen (Yu Jing) has been an envoy to Shangdang many times and has made outstanding contributions. He should be appointed as the deputy governor of Qingzhou. That's it."

This was said to Yu Liang, but he was not asked to appoint these officials, as he was only a general officer and did not have the power to do so. Shao Xun only said this to Yu Liang and asked him to spread the word, that was all.

Some of these official posts were in newly established departments, some were reforms of old institutions, and some were in newly conquered territories. They were supposed to be completed one by one in the near future, but happened to be arranged all at once during the grain-raising period.

Yu Liang understood, and after discussing the details of the grain and fodder raising process, he bowed and left.

The construction of the palace was suspended and he had nothing to do, so he was now responsible for raising food.

Tomorrow he will set out for Jiyin and other places to raise funds for food, and the task is still very heavy.

"Yu Yuangui is a little greedy." After Yu Liang left, Yang Xianrong came out from the side hall, sat next to Shao Xun naturally, and said.

"Everyone has shortcomings, so just use what he is good at." Shao Xun looked at the official documents on the table and said, "Xiangcheng collected 130,000 hu of grain, Luonan counties collected 50,000 hu, Yingchuan collected more than 700,000 hu, and Xingyang collected 30,000 hu. If the counties and states in the eastern part of Yu and Yan can raise 2 to 3 million hu, this year will not be so difficult."

"When it comes to raising grain, Liu Cong is far inferior to you. What can he use to fight? Although Liu Yao has taken Jinyang, it is an empty city, so it may be of no use." Yang Xianrong was also a little amazed.

The Xiongnu fought back and forth, always circling around Bingzhou and Guanxi, and even extended their hands to the long-abandoned old Shangjun to subdue the local Hu people. The closest they came to a rich land was when Shi Le, who was regarded as a detachment, occupied Jizhou.

"What do you think of Liu Yao?" Shao Xun asked softly while holding Yang Xianrong in his arms.

"No." Yang Xianrong shook his head and said, "My dear, you are the founder of the country. Liu Yao is cramped in a place where he is in danger of losing his life. How can you be compared with him?"

Shao Xun felt a sense of satisfaction and said, "One day, I will capture Liu Yao in front of the steps."

Yang Xianrong thought Shao Xun's question today was a little strange, but she didn't think much about it and just asked, "When will you go to war?"

"Why are you asking? It's almost time."

Yang Xianrong looked at him, a little angry.

Around the New Year, he stayed in Bianliang for some time. He rarely visited her, but spent more time with Pei, and even occasionally went to Cui to have an affair.

Pei got pregnant again after the new year, but she still had no children. How could she not be angry?
"Haven't I been with you these days?" Shao Xun said.

Yang Xianrong was silent for a while, then said, "I have asked Guangchengze to transfer 150,000 hu of grain. Isn't that more than what the Yu family has? How are you going to reward me?"

Shao Xun was stunned. No longer talking about feelings, but about interests, right? Good, good, good!

"I'll stay with you until you go to war," Shao Xun promised.

(My dog ​​is still alive, don't worry about voting.)
(End of this chapter)