Chapter 768 Already planned

Chapter 768 Already planned

Chapter 768 Already planned
After many days of arduous journey, they were not far from Shengle.

Shengle was the northern capital of the Dai State, located in Tuchengzi, ten kilometers north of Horqin County, Inner Mongolia.

During the Qin and Han Dynasties, Yunzhong and Dingxiang counties were established. In addition to the Yellow River, there are many tributaries and lakes nearby, with abundant water and grass.

The soil looks like black sand, which is relatively fertile and suitable for farming and animal husbandry. It has the reputation of "the best soil for extensive animal husbandry in Longhuang" and actually has great agricultural potential.

At this time, the millet had just been planted and the countryside was quiet.

Villages of all sizes are scattered all over the place. The amazing thing is that there are not many forts and manors here, and there seem to be more self-cultivating farmers - it is ironic to think about it, that in the grassland area where slavery is more serious, self-cultivating farmers are more likely to be seen than in the Central Plains.

"What are these people preparing?" When passing through a village, Yu Mie pointed at the things the people were bundling and asked.

The Daiguo military officer who was escorting them glanced at them and didn't answer, just focusing on getting on with their journey.

"Master, this is millet stalk." Wei Hong, a member of the Wei family, followed him and said softly, "The people of Dai like to grow millet and buckwheat, which is very different from the widespread planting of millet and wheat in the Central Plains. Millet can be eaten as grains, and its stalks are top-quality fodder. The Dai Kingdom collected this and sent it to the army."

"So that's how it is. I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Ji Shi." Yu Mie nodded with a frown.

When he was a child, he worked in the fields with his father in the Linlu Mountains. He often chopped wood, cut grass, and fed livestock with crop straw, but so many years had passed that he hadn't thought about it for a while.

However, after seeing this fact, he always felt a little worried.

He looked around again.

In addition to the farmland, there are also many grasslands.

The terrain of Dai State is long from east to west and narrow from north to south, so there is a big difference between the east and west.

I heard that the grass turns green early in some places and late in others, but the most concentrated period is in April.

It is already mid-to-late April, and most of the grass has turned green. So, will it be possible...

"Ji Shi." Yu Mie glanced at the Dai soldiers not far away and asked in a low voice: "Is the Dai people preparing for war?"

Wei Hong hesitated, thought for a moment, and said, "Not likely."

After that, he explained further.

It turned out that by next month, all regions would gradually enter the critical growth period of forage heading, budding and flowering. The Tuoba clan had a tradition that the king would inspect various regions from May to July, one for pacification and the other for frost prevention.

The so-called frost prevention is mainly concentrated in the Yinshan Mountains, where it is relatively cold, the forests are extremely lush, and there is even residual snow in May. It is suitable for growing crops there, and the climate has been a bit strange in recent years. In the relatively warm May and June, frost meteorites occasionally occur, reducing crop yields.

Crops like millet cannot withstand frost during their critical growing period.

After three months of maturity, it is no longer afraid of frost, but if the wind gets strong at that time, it will blow the seeds off and reduce the yield.

In fact, meteoric frost will also affect the growth of forage grass in the bud and flowering period, so the Tuoba clan would organize people to prevent frost in the Yinshan area - there may not necessarily be frost disasters, but the Tuoba Xianbei attached great importance to agricultural and animal husbandry production, so necessary preventive measures must be taken.

At the end, Wei Hong said: "From my experience of doing business with the Tuoba clan over the years, the Tuoba Xianbei envied the Liu Han Xiongnu very much. The Kelan County established by the King of Liang was surrounded by mountains. The Jin people thought it was inconvenient for farming and abandoned it like a worn-out shoe. They were too lazy to even set up counties and towns, and threw everything to the Xiongnu. But the Xiongnu regarded it as a treasure. The river valleys below the mountains can be used for farming, and the mountains are lush with vegetation and can be used for grazing. There is more rain than on the grassland, and the grass grows taller, bigger, denser, and faster. I don't know how many more livestock they can raise and how many more people can live."

"The most important thing is that the meteorite frost in June is much less than that in the grassland, so the harvest of forage and grain is high. Liu Kun ceded Yanmen and Daijun. Although the land is not large, it is a rare good land for Dai. So they immediately built Pingcheng as the southern capital. This is their national policy. Just like the Xiongnu people's 'Crossing Yongbing', Tuoba Xianbei is very eager to go south. Counties with more mountains such as Kelan and Xihe are what they dream of."

"How much frost was there in June in the past?" Yu Mie had never been to the grassland and was a little curious about this.

"Yes, but less." Wei Hong shook his head and said, "I don't know what happened, but it has suddenly increased in recent years. June is actually the warmest time of the year on the grassland. In the past, we hardly heard of meteorite frost events. Even if there were, it might not be a big deal. But in recent years, it has become serious. The grassland people are terrified, thinking they have done something wrong, and they have repeatedly killed people to offer sacrifices to the gods, but there has been no change."

Disasters caused by frost and freezing are two different concepts with very different degrees.

The worst thing is that in recent years, not only has there been more frost, but it has also been more severe, causing disasters repeatedly. This is another matter.

"But..." Wei Hong was also a little uncertain at this time. He looked at Yu Mie and said seriously: "In the past three years, there have been no disasters worth mentioning in the territory of the Tuoba clan. After three years of good life, I can't predict what will happen to them."

Yu Mie nodded silently. He basically understood the whole picture.

On April 25th, a group of more than ten people arrived at the south of Shengle City.

Yu Mie took the opportunity to observe and found that the city was not small: it was more than four miles long from east to west and six or seven miles long from north to south.

Like the cities in the Han area, there are many people living outside the city, including herdsmen, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants, and it is very lively.

This is a big city outside the Great Wall. It probably has more than 50,000 people living in it!
Moreover, Wei Hong said that as Tuoba conquered more and more areas and the population became more and more prosperous, Shengle might continue to expand.

How ambitious!

Just when Yu Mie and others were about to enter the city to take a look, they were suddenly taken to a Buddhist temple in the west of the city by the military school who had escorted them all the way.

This person was still as cautious as ever, and only said one sentence: "If you don't want to die, don't leave here."

Yu Mie and Wei Hong looked at each other in shock.

"May I ask who is the general's order? Where is Lord Dai? Why doesn't he see us?" Yu Mie caught up with the military school who turned and left, and asked in a low voice.

The military school seemed a little annoyed, his face suddenly became very fierce, and he only said: "If you are told to live here, stay here, and don't say anything. There are many people looking for you now. If you fall into their hands, you will definitely die."

Yu Mie was about to say something else but was stopped by Wei Hong.

The military school left quickly, but the hundred soldiers who followed him did not leave. Instead, they scattered in various corners of the Buddhist temple, acting as both guards and monitors.

Yu Mie had a bad feeling in his heart.

Perhaps, the previous judgments made by Prince Liang and his colleagues in the shogunate were wrong.

They felt that Tuoba Xianbei had experienced a civil strife in a short period of time, with three kings dying and a large number of people escaping. The situation in the country was extremely turbulent, so it was impossible to launch a war against other countries at this time.

But this is just a judgment made from the perspective of people in the Central Plains. Perhaps the grassland is not the same?
It's easy to make mistakes if you judge others by yourself.

"Tick-tock!" It started to rain. Huge raindrops fell on the lotus-shaped boy tiles, washing away the dust on them, gradually forming a line and falling to the ground.

The Buddhist temple is relatively new, and the vermilion lacquer on the tiles is not very dazzling and looks a bit like blood.

It's just that I don't know if this bloody disaster happened in Shengle or somewhere else. Maybe it happened everywhere.

The Tuoba Xianbei had actually already planned a southern expedition this year. This was an idea that suddenly popped up in Yu Mie's mind.

******
After receiving the news from Gao Yi, Shao Xun did not act rashly, but he did not neglect it either.

He immediately sent a large number of cavalry to the north into Yanmen to gather information.

Ten days later, half of the men were lost, and the remaining ones returned in disgrace, without having obtained any useful information.

But one thing is certain, every city within the Dai State was stockpiling food and fodder.

The forged iron armor, arrows, swords and spears were also transported in carts and packs, and baggage trains could be seen everywhere on the road.

Shao Xun was a little surprised by this.

He was making preliminary preparations for the expedition against Tuoba Xianbei, such as winning over border tribes, inspecting local areas, building forward outposts, playing diplomatic tricks, etc. He did not expect that they would take the initiative to move south.

This is so unexpected.

On April 25th, he left the Yellow River and led his army to Langu County (now Kelan County).

Lan Valley was newly established. After the rain stopped last autumn, a thin earthen city was built. It was similar to a camp with slightly better specifications and could not be called a city at all.

Langu County is surrounded by towering mountains, and the Kelan River (now the Lanyi River) flows out from the middle and merges into the Yellow River.

The terrain in the northeast of the county gradually widened, and in the area of ​​Wuzhai County in later generations, a trumpet-shaped valley was formed.

There are many rivers in the valley - in fact, Wuzhai County is also a region with relatively abundant water resources in Shanxi in later generations - the largest river is called "Caochengchuan", and this place is also named "Caochengchuan", but no one knows where it originated.

Because of the abundant water and grass, when the Tuoba Xianbei went south, they liked to gather in the Caochengchuan area because supplies were relatively abundant.

Shao Xun established Langu County here in order to block Caochengchuan, the enemy’s gathering place.

He is here now.

"Kill!" In the valley, ten thousand soldiers formed a formation and trained hard.

Shao Xun stood on the top of the city wall and watched silently.

Chen Yougen was itching to get his hands dirty, so he actually led the team to train the Yellow Head Army soldiers himself.

He was quite strict, his words were harsh, and he would often use a horse whip to beat people. Anyone who did not move properly or reacted slowly would often be punished, which left a deep impression on the soldiers.

Another 10,000 soldiers were divided into several groups to cut wood and soil to build camps.

The county town was so small that it could only accommodate three to four thousand people at most. Most of the soldiers set up camps around the county town, and many even stationed in the mountains on both sides, overlooking the river valley.

"Your Majesty, the army has only enough food and grass for a month. It's time to go back." Military strategist Zhang Bin pointed to the mountains in the north and said, "Leave one general to guard here. Your Majesty's body is worth a million gold. Don't take risks lightly."

Shao Xun hummed and asked, "Didn't we just collect a lot of livestock? I have more than a month's worth of food and fodder, maybe two or three months."

Zhang Bin still frowned, then changed his way of persuading him, saying: "If Tuoba Yulu goes south, he may not go through Lishi. Wouldn't Jinyang be more convenient?"

These words did work. Shao Xun said, "Meng Sun's words make sense. Jinyang only has Liu Ling's troops, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to hold on alone."

It’s not that we don’t want to mobilize more troops, it’s mainly because of the shortage of food and fodder.

This problem will not be alleviated until June or July - the wheat harvest is in May, and the earliest shipment will start at the end of May or the beginning of June. Depending on the distance of the journey, it will be delivered to the front line in June or July.

"I invite the king to go to Jinyang." Seeing that his persuasion had worked, Zhang Bin immediately bowed and asked.

"Meng Sun..." Shao Xun looked at him with emotion.

This guy has changed a lot in just a few years, from being reluctant at the beginning to now wholeheartedly giving him advice.

Sometimes I wonder if it is a waste of talent to only let him serve as a military advisor? Maybe he can be more capable of a more comprehensive stage?

"I will go to Xiatianchi in the next two days, and then lead the army back to Jinyang." Shao Xun said, "Mengsun, who do you think is the best person to stay in Lan Valley?"

"I thought..." Zhang Bin had just said half of his words when he saw the cavalry sent to Caochengchuan running back on horseback. Some of them had arrows stuck in their backs and looked extremely miserable.

His face froze for a moment.

The Tuoba Xianbei claimed to have "a million generals on horseback and bow and arrow".

This is of course bragging. A population of more than one million is about right for the whole country, but it is still quite scary because a lot of soldiers can be recruited, and they are all relatively strong and durable.

Wouldn't the King of Liang be trapped in Lan Valley, unable to move?

"Your Majesty." Zhang Bin's face was not very good, and he whispered: "The mixed barbarians in Kelan, Xihe and Taiyuan counties have only been here for a short time, and their hearts are in chaos. If they cause trouble, it will not be good. I beg you to -"

Shao Xun held out his hand to stop Zhang Bin from saying anything else, and said, "Mengsun, send people to Jinyang to recruit soldiers from all the counties to defend Shiling. The people of Xinxing should retreat if they can, and if they can't, they should hold on to the fort."

"Send another letter to Youzhou. I have heard that the Xianbei have repeatedly harassed Guangning and Shanggu. We should recruit the people of the county to defend Guangning. Guangning is difficult to defend, so we can retreat to Shanggu as appropriate, but we are not allowed to retreat any further."

"Send someone to Lishi and have the Yellow-Headed Army escort the princess and others back to Pingyang."

"The rest of you, follow me to fight the enemy. This is not the way to retreat. If you run away when you see the enemy, how can you fight in the future?"

(End of this chapter)