Chapter 760 Flag Presentation
Chapter 760 Flag Presentation
The carpenters worked overnight to make flagpoles of varying thicknesses.
Horse-drawn carriages rumbled out of the city, pulling out embroidered flags.
On November 320th of the fourth year of Shengui in the Great Jin Dynasty (), countless soldiers had already formed their battle formations in the wilderness south of Yecheng.
After eating full meals for half a month, their spirits and spirits were obviously much better, and their equipment was also greatly improved.
The Yecheng arsenal was almost emptied, and all the weapons in stock, both new and old, were distributed.
At least every soldier in the formation wore a linen uniform, and more than 70% of them carried a standard spear.
Other weapons, such as swords and shields, bows and arrows, horn bows, crossbow carts, wooden clubs, halberds, drums and horns, were also distributed and used by fixed personnel.
Logistical supplies such as donkey carts, ox carts, cooking utensils, tools, tents, tarpaulins, ropes, hatchets, medicinal materials, whetstones, etc. are also fully available.
As a result, the arsenal in Yecheng was almost emptied, and it was about to enter a long period of accumulation.
Taking into account that there were many Xiongnu, Wuhuan, Xianbei and Jie people who could ride horses among the elite Yellow Head Army, Shao Xun also "borrowed" more than 3,000 horses - they were not good horses, and there were even many old horses among them, so they could only be used as makeshift horses.
After this round of reorganization, these 40,000 people finally looked a bit presentable, at least on the surface.
The sound of horse hooves was heard, and Shao Xun walked to the front of the battle formation surrounded by his personal troops, and then dismounted.
Yang Qin handed him a huge piece of yellow paper, which was covered with dense words.
He glanced at it briefly, nodded, and then handed the paper to the clerk beside him and said, "Read it!"
The clerk took a deep breath and said, "The first battalion in the left camp, the battalion master Zhao Dayou, is given a flag."
When the clerk finished reading, dozens of personal soldiers roared in unison.
Zhao Dayou, who had been prepared, came forward with two deputy governors and ten team leaders and knelt down.
Shao Xun helped Zhao Dayou up, then took a flag from his personal soldier and handed it to Zhao Dayou, saying, "It has been quite difficult along the way. We will live and die together in the future."
The leader of the group and the governor were from the royal army, while the team leader was a strong and powerful disaster victim, and their identities and backgrounds were different.
"I will go through fire and water without hesitation." Zhao Dayou stood up and took the flag with force, his knuckles turning white from clenching his fists.
The ten team leaders were even more excited than Zhao Dayou.
They don't understand any great principles, they just know that it's hard to survive on their own in this world. People still need to rely on the collective, and with this flag, they know clearly that there will be hundreds of brothers who have struggled together to survive and can rely on them.
And these five hundred people had to rely on King Liang and fight for him, because it was King Liang who personally went to Changshan, Zhongshan and Gaoyang and rescued them from desperate situations.
Shao Xun also gave each of his personal soldiers two pieces of silk, and the soldiers returned to the team after receiving them.
"The second tower in the left camp, led by Chen Qi, is awarded a flag." After Zhao Dayou stepped down, the clerk continued to read.
Chen Qi, along with the Du Bo and team leaders, walked quickly forward and bowed to the ground.
Chen Qi and the two Dubos also came from the royal army.
Shao Xun helped him up, then looked at everyone and said, "The past is gone, people should look forward, and in the future, when farming and training, they must not be cunning or sly."
After saying this, he still gave two pieces of silk.
"We are willing to obey the king's orders." When Chen Qi stood up, took the flag, and carried it back to the camp, everyone couldn't help but look over.
"The third battalion in the left camp, led by Zhang Mazi, is given a flag..."
Before I knew it, snowflakes were falling from the sky.
The wind also picked up, making the horses and draft animals restless.
When the last two cavalrymen finished awarding their flags, Shao Xun took a deep breath and said, "Give the army the title 'Wansheng'."
More than a dozen knights passed by tens of thousands of people, shouting repeatedly: "Military trumpet 'Ten Thousand Victories'!"
"Victory!" The soldiers shouted loudly with red faces.
"Victory!" One army after another shouted, and the sound rose and fell.
"Long live!" I don't know if it was out of tune or what, but as I was shouting, it suddenly became "Long live".
Shao Xun raised his eyebrows and stretched out his hand to press down.
The officers saw this from a distance and ordered everyone to keep quiet.
"The troops will march to Pingyang tomorrow," Shao Xun ordered.
******
After the flag-raising ceremony, the soldiers returned to their respective camps to pack up their things.
Lu Zhize followed behind Shao Xun and asked, "My lord, are you recruiting soldiers? Are you stationing troops?"
"A farmer." Shao Xun replied concisely.
Lu Zhi breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he knew it was unlikely, he still had to confirm it. The farmer was easy to deal with, it was nothing more than giving them a place to stay, a house and some land.
However, these 40,000 soldiers were different from ordinary peasants. If we had to say, they were peasants who were more capable of fighting and often went into battle.
On weekdays, some weapons would be distributed, but most of them were stored in the arsenal, and everyone worked on the farm at home to support themselves. During the slack season, the government would distribute some grain and meat, and the soldiers would train together to improve their combat effectiveness.
This way, the burden is much lighter.
"I wonder where the Wansheng Army is stationed?" Lu Zhi asked again.
"I want to take him to Pingyang and train him well. He may be of great use in the future expedition against the Xiongnu." Shao Xun said, "What suggestions do you have, Zidao?"
"There isn't that much land in Pingyang, right?" Lu Zhi asked.
Shao Xun nodded and said, "From the end of last year to March this year, a large number of Xiongnu false officials were cleared. If each soldier was given 30 to 50 mu of land, a maximum of 20,000 soldiers could be settled." From the perspective of the Liu Han court, the counties of Pingyang were the capital counties, at the feet of the emperor. In general, the population was relatively dense, and the land was almost completely divided up.
Considering the need to house 2,400 soldiers, the land was definitely not enough.
"How about Luoyang?" Lu Zhi suggested.
Henan County, where Luoyang is located, is a sparsely populated county in the entire world.
Wang Mi and the Huns had fought countless times, and Luoyang was also the main battlefield in the previous infighting among the kings.
After years of fighting, there are really not many people in Henan County. There are only a few counties south of Yique Pass with some people.
Shao Xun once heard Pei Lingyan say that when she came to Luoyang eighteen years ago, all she saw along the way were empty villages and foxes and rats roaming around freely, and they were not afraid of people at all.
When camping at night, you can even hear wolves howling.
The entire Henan County could accommodate not only 40,000 soldiers, but even 100,000 soldiers.
"I'll think about it." Shao Xun did not directly reject Lu Zhi's suggestion. After saying that, he looked at Lu Zhi carefully and said, "Zidao, you have worked hard these days."
"Working for the king is hard work." Lu Zhi sighed, "I am old now, I am afraid I can't accompany the king to the end."
Once these words were spoken, even the coldest wind could not blow away the thick and insoluble melancholy.
Lu Zhi is old in body, and even older in heart.
In the past three years, the performance of the Hebei Group has not been good, which has hit him hard.
The four major families headed by the Wang family of Langya, the Yang family of Taishan, the Yu family of Yingchuan, and the Pei family of Hedong gradually surfaced.
Among these four families, the first three are big families in Henan. Although the Hedong Pei family is located north of the yellow river, it is almost separated from Jizhou and Youzhou by the entire Bingzhou. Rather than saying that they are Hebei gentry, Lu Zhi believes that they are Xizhou gentry.
The language, customs and ways of doing things are closer to those of Guanxi, and the intermarriage is with the big families in Henan, so they don't have much relationship with Hebei.
In such a situation, the Lu family of Fanyang gradually became unable to cope with the situation and was squeezed to the same status as the Le family of Nanyang.
The situations of the two families are really similar.
The Lu family helped to pacify Youzhou, a place where the Han and the Hu people lived together, and to guard against the three Xianbei clans of Yuwen, Tuoba, and Murong.
The Le family gathered people from the five counties of Nanyang to fight against the Jingzhou group under Sima Rui's rule.
To be frustrating, in the past ten years, Le's has developed extremely rapidly, but Lu's has been much slower. It is hard to say who is stronger now.
He didn't know how he got to this point today.
Thinking back to those days, he personally planned and contacted many parties, which made the nobles of Hebei support King Liang and easily capture Youzhou. How high-spirited he was.
All is past! Lu Zhi's spirit and energy weakened at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Zidao." Shao Xun took Lu Zhi's hand and said with a smile, "Who else but you can handle the affairs of Hebei? Without you, the Youji area would have been in such a mess."
At this point, Shao Xun sighed and said, "Hebei has indeed suffered many disasters in recent years. Zidao will stay in Yecheng for a while. You don't need to do everything yourself. Just let your subordinates do it. If you find any outstanding people, just write to me and I will immediately send people to recruit them and let them share Zidao's worries."
Hearing this, Lu Zhi felt better.
There has been a very bad trend in the past two years. The Wang and Yu families have been fighting openly and secretly, but they are surprisingly unanimous in suppressing the Hebei scholars. Even the reasons are ready-made: there was unrest in Jizhou, and although the Hebei gentry did not suffer any consequences, they were suspected of adding fuel to the fire.
As a result, the channels for advancement for Hebei scholars became narrower, and Lu Zhi was very worried about this.
The words of King Liang just now finally cheered him up a little.
After all, the king still remembers the old friendship!
"Zi Li (Lu Shen) has been in Guangning for more than four years, right?" Shao Xun looked at Lu Zhi again and asked.
Lu Zhi was startled and said, "I took office in March of the tenth year of Yongjia."
"I heard that you have made good friends with the Hu people and all the borders of Guangning are at peace." Shao Xun said, "After Liu Han entered the capital, Yuan Chong succeeded him as governor, but he is good at civil affairs and slightly inferior in military strength. It just so happens that the Dali of Liang State has been vacant, and I want to transfer You Tong to the south to take up this position. The military affairs of Youzhou may be given to your son."
Lu Zhi was delighted.
I wanted to pretend to refuse, but when the words came to my lips, I couldn't say them.
Shao Xun laughed and said, "I would not trust an outsider to go to Youzhou. I only trust my own people."
Lu Zhi looked at Shao Xun, smiled bitterly, and said, "Zili is a little rash after all."
Having said that, Lu Zhi was still very happy to see his son become the governor of Youzhou.
"No problem. He did a good job as the governor of Guangning, and he was a filial son." Shao Xun said, "There is another thing——"
"What's the matter?" Lu Zhi asked subconsciously.
"Tell Liu Yueshi to stop hiding and come back. I won't kill him."
"He..." Lu Zhi sighed and said, "He has already gone south to Jianye as Murong Wei's envoy. I just found out about this."
Shao Xun was stunned, then smiled and said, "Forget it then."
On November 16, Shao Xun led the Yellow Head Army to leave Yecheng.
Considering the problem of food, he finally chose to return to Binh Yang via Ji County and Hanoi.
On the way, they waited for food and grass in the north city of Heyang for a few days and trained their troops at the same time.
At one point, he really wanted to settle the people in Luoyang according to Lu Zhi's suggestion - fortunately, Old Lu did not say to put them in Yecheng - but then he thought about it and rejected it, because Pingyang, a place with strong Hu culture, needed these people more.
On December 15th, when he returned to Pingyang with these 40,000 people, it was only half a month away from the Chinese New Year.
After spring ploughing, they patrol the river, provide disaster relief in June, and return home in December. The four years of the divine tortoise pass by in the blink of an eye.
(End of this chapter)