Chapter 828: Partial Division

Chapter 828: Partial Division

Chapter 828: Partial Division
Jotan carefully tied a bell to the head sheep and then opened the sheep shed.

The lead sheep walked out slowly, smelling the scent of the grass, and headed towards the hillside covered with wormwood and shrubs.

The other thirty or so sheep, big and small, rushed over, bleating and following, and started a new day.

The spring plowing at the foot of the mountain has been completed and there is not much to do. Now he spends most of the day herding cattle and sheep.

This job is neither easy nor difficult.

Sheep are naughty and greedy. Sometimes they get lost and don’t always follow the lead sheep.

After arriving at the grazing spot, some sheep will wander around and disappear in the blink of an eye. At this time, you have to go look for them.

But apart from these, there is actually a lot of free time in a day.

At this time, he would do some of his own things, and occasionally sit on the ridge and daydream, looking at the rivers, valleys, dense forests and post roads in the distance.

He liked to watch the post road the most. Sometimes a caravan would suddenly appear, bringing him many different views that he would linger on for a long time.

Today, Qiao Tan sat down again, pinching a blooming wild flower in his hand, quietly looking at the ancient post road at the foot of the mountain.

Suddenly, several riders appeared at the side of the post road and looked up at the mountain from afar.

Jotan became nervous because those people did not look like travelers passing by, as there were too few of them.

This is not Luoyang City, this is a remote place, so what if they capture you and make you a slave? The government can't find out.

Qiao Tan stood up subconsciously and took out a bone whistle.

In the valley behind him, there were several other families grazing with his family. If someone really came to rob them, they would fight to the death.

"Jotan." A rider came riding up and shouted.

Qiao Tan felt relieved, it was the voice of the village head Qiao Ke.

Qiao Tan put the half-drawn knife back into the sheath and responded from a distance.

"Take your horse, bow and sword, and go to war." The village chief came to the foot of the mountain, handed the reins to his followers, and said, "If you can get one, it's your turn. Come with me."

"What?" Qiao Tan couldn't keep calm anymore and asked, "Why me?"

"Didn't anyone tell you?"

"No."

The head of the village cursed, but I couldn't hear him clearly because I was too far away. But he quickly raised his voice and said, "This is the county's order. If you don't go, you can't graze here, and the fields at the foot of the mountain will be taken away."

Jotan remained silent.

The riders at the foot of the mountain looked relaxed just now, but now their faces turned gloomy.

They looked at Qiaotan and then at the head of the village, as if waiting for his orders.

"Qiao Tan, escaping from military service is no small matter. It would have been fine if it was before, but you have land and houses at the foot of the mountain, and there is also a pasture allocated to you in the mountain. Where can you run to? Go to graze on someone else's land? If you eat up all their grass, will they let you go?" The head of the village patiently persuaded him, "Come with me. King Liang is here this time, so there may be a reward, and it won't be in vain."

Perhaps it was these words that touched him, or perhaps it was some other reason, Qiao Tan slowly loosened his tightly clenched fists and said in a hoarse voice: "Okay, I'll go with you."

Outside Xiurong County, twenty miles away, Qiao Yu, wearing his official uniform, inspected the camp surrounded by a large crowd.

Hundreds of soldiers have arrived in the camp one after another, all of whom were conscripted in the past ten days.

You know what, it becomes much easier to find people after the household registration is determined, the fields are distributed, and the pastures are demarcated.

He issued an order, and the county military official was in charge of the actual operation, with assistance from other county officials. Dozens of people came out in droves, rode on horseback to various villages, and used their old connections to recruit people by comparing the household registration.

Perhaps this is the meaning of the system.

Once established, it seems that greater forces can be called upon - these forces existed before, but they could not really be used effectively.

"Horses are thin in the spring, so take good care of them." Qiao Yu said as he walked, "The military rations stored here cannot be moved. Send out a batch of beans from the county warehouse. Watch them carefully and don't let anyone eat them. They are for feeding horses."

"Yes."

"Send out some hay, too. There's not much left, right?"

"The hay that was originally as big as a small hill has been eaten up almost completely."

"Gather some straw from the houses that don't have men to feed. Chop it up and mix it with hay and beans to feed the children. Try to be as economical as possible."

"Sir, will you pay me for collecting the straw?"

"If you don't have money, I won't give you anything." Qiao Yu said without hesitation, "If you don't want to give me straw, then give me people. If you don't even want to give me people, just put me in jail and ask them to redeem me."

"As ordered."

As they were talking, another group of people arrived.

Leading the group was the county recorder Shi, followed by three young men who saluted when they saw Qiao Yu.

"Why are boys of fourteen or fifteen also going into battle?" Qiao Yu stopped and looked at the people behind the registrar and asked.

"Sir, these are soldiers who volunteered voluntarily," explained the recorder.

What this means is that they were not forced conscripts and their morale is relatively high.

"Then take it." Qiao Yu nodded, and just as he was about to leave, he asked again, "How's things going in Hehe County?"

"They recruited more than 700 people." The recorder said, "I met the chief clerk of Hehe County, the son-in-law of the Zhou family. He recruited 200 people in three days, all equipped with bows, swords and war horses."

Qiao Yu cursed inwardly, they were even faster than their county!

"Send everyone out. There are still 400 people left. We must finish the expedition within ten days. There must be no mistakes." Qiao Yu said angrily. ******
The sound of hoofbeats could be heard, and more than a hundred riders rushed towards Langu County with great momentum.

Who the hell is tired of living? The gatekeeper drew his bow and was about to yell, but was stopped by the person next to him, who said, "It seems to be Shangguan."

Unexpectedly, the man was rather stunned and said unhappily: "He doesn't know my name, doesn't check my seal, and just rides straight at me. I will kill him."

The person who advised him was stunned for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "That's right! My family and I are all in the city, we can't be careless!"

After saying that, they called over other comrades, worked hard to move the deer antlers, and piled them at the city gate. Then the swordsmen and shields stepped forward and lined up closely, and the spearmen followed behind, ready to stab through the gaps in the shields.

The archer quickly drew the bowstring, not even having time to adjust it, and pulled out a long arrow from the quiver.

"This is General Yin, a cavalry officer of the General's Mansion. Open the door quickly." A rider stepped forward and shouted.

The guards didn't move.

The knight was a little anxious and shouted again: "Can you afford to miss the military situation?"

The guards looked at each other, thinking that the person who came might be a big shot, and suddenly became a little panicked.

"Open the door!" There were rustling footsteps on the street. A moment later, the county magistrate rushed over and shouted.

The guards received the order, nervously put away their weapons and moved the deer antlers away.

More than a hundred riders rushed in, and the infantry on the street immediately moved to the sides.

When one of the riders arrived at the city gate, he stopped his horse, pointed his whip at the guards and said, "You all obey the military order. Yes, I will give each of you a piece of cloth. You can ask for it from the county. If you don't give it to me, come to me and I will take care of it for you."

After that, he rode away.

His personal soldiers followed closely behind him, and one of them turned to the gatekeeper and shouted, "This is General Yin Xiyin, the cavalry officer of the General's Office."

More than a hundred riders quickly disappeared at the city gate.

The gatekeeper breathed a sigh of relief, and then became a little excited.

"The people in the General's Mansion are easy to talk to."

"Really, you are worthy of being a heavenly being, you are sensible and generous."

"Damn it, Lan Valley is such a small place, but the dog officials are more powerful than the generals, and they only know how to bully the people."

"A calf had just been born at home, and there was so much to do, yet they conscripted me to work for them."

“Can we really get this cloth?”

"It's hard to say. General Yin might have forgotten it immediately. Go ask him later."

"General Yin is a good man, he doesn't put on airs at all."

A laborer in charge of pulling the drawbridge inside the city gate sneered and said with a smile, "What do you know? Yin Xi's sister is the favorite concubine of the King of Liang and has a bright future. Why would she bother to argue with you? In his eyes, it's cheap to show off to your county magistrate. At least Liu Zhao has to come here to make him look at you with respect."

The soldiers gasped when they heard this. What kind of person is this guy, with such a big tone?
"Forget it. We are all miserable people. I shouldn't show off in front of you." Cai Ting waved his hand and said, "You are serving in the army, I am serving in the labor service, we are both working hard, so we should take care of each other in the future. I will treat you to a drink when we get to Kaocheng."

"That's right. We're all just risking our lives. Are you from Kaocheng? I'm from Huguan. I fled to Luoyang before, but I was sent back to Bingzhou and then to this damn place called Langu. Now I can't leave." There was not much pretentious talk between the men. The simple feeling of sympathy quickly brought them closer.

Cai Ting was actually not very willing to chat with these "vulgar people", but he was free anyway, so he started chatting and became interested.

The gatekeeper patted Cai Ting's shoulder with his dirty big hands and laughed.

Cai Ting also smiled foolishly.

This kind of life is quite novel.

On the other side, after Yin Xi entered the county government office, he took off his cloak and said, "The soldiers from the six counties of Hehe, Langu, Xiurong, Jingle, Ningwu, and Loufan have all gathered in Langu, totaling 6,000 cavalry. They have been recruited almost and are heading this way. Are the food and fodder ready?"

The county magistrate trotted along, almost unable to catch up with the vigorous cavalry official, and panted as he said, "We started transporting grain in the early autumn of last year, and by now we have transported more than 520,000 bushels of grain and beans and 170,000 bundles of hay."

"Not enough!" Yin Xi stopped, turned around and looked at the county magistrate, saying, "This is only enough for the soldiers to use for three months."

"Another batch of grain will arrive in April, no less than 200,000 hu. That will provide enough food for April." The county magistrate replied, "Lord Liu has prepared 5,000 cattle and 100,000 sheep."

"Is there a place to fatten the cattle and sheep?" Yin Xi asked.

"The grass isn't long enough at this time of year."

"Slaughter the cattle and sheep on the spot, make them into jerky and send them here. If there is any cheese, order some." Yin Xi said in an unquestionable tone: "I only have more than 6,000 cavalrymen on this road, but not many soldiers. We must feed the men well so that they will have the strength to fight."

The county magistrate was shocked when he heard this, and subconsciously asked, "Excuse me, General Yin, are there really only 6,000 cavalry?"

"How can this be false?" Yin Xi said impatiently, "If you can recruit more people, I will remember your merit and transfer you to Henan to be a county magistrate in the future. It is not impossible."

The county magistrate hesitated and said, "General, I am a Xiongnu."

"So what if they are Xiongnu?" Yin Xi looked him up and down, thinking that this fellow might be able to recruit young men, so he patiently explained: "If you make contributions, you will be rewarded. This is the foundation of the King of Liang's country. Don't doubt it."

The county magistrate's eyes lit up and he began to think secretly.

Yin Xi ignored him and asked the military clerk to spread out the map and look at it carefully.

Three armies set out in the north to fight against the Xianbei, and they were on the western route.

Obviously, this is a partial division.

After the personnel were almost assembled, they would carry out the next step. It was not to send out troops, but to search and kill messengers and scouts, so that the possible enemy cavalry would not dare to go south, and they would not be able to figure out the real situation in the south.

(End of this chapter)