Chapter 918 Method

Chapter 918 Method

Chapter 918 Method (Part )

Shi Le went to the military settlement in the north of Baitu County, while Shi Hu returned to Muguayuan.

After several years of operation, there are already 500 hectares of farmland here, which accommodate about 1,200 households of Xiongnu, Baibu Xianbei, Di and Qiang people, who farm and graze, making it the second largest settlement area directly under Shi Le's jurisdiction.

The largest one is Fugu, which was originally the old site of Fuchang County in the Han Dynasty (now the area of ​​Gucheng Town, Fugu County, Shaanxi Province). It is located in a small mountain plain with a radius of more than 100 miles. There are rivers passing through it, and the agricultural products are relatively abundant. It was also named after the old name of Fuchang County, so it was called "Fugu".

Fugu housed 1,300 to 1,400 military households, which were part of the thousands of defeated soldiers that Shi Le brought from Hedong.

After several years, most of these soldiers have married and brought their families with them, and are scattered in military settlements in multiple mountain basins including Fugu. From the overall situation, they are at the front line between Shangjun and Tuoba Xianbei, becoming the de facto border defense force.

It was also thanks to the internal strife in the Xianbei in recent years that attention was not paid here, which gave Shi Le a chance to catch his breath and even grow stronger.

But now this window of time has disappeared.

Tuoba Xianbei dispatched 30,000 to 40,000 cavalrymen and marched southward in a massive manner. Within four days, they had invaded Baitu County. They bypassed the forts and did not attack them, leaving only a part of their troops to watch, while the main force continued to march southward and pursued the enemy.

Just as Shi Le returned to Fu Valley and was summoning his officers and subordinates to discuss the next move, on the night of the 20th, a group of Xianbei people followed him.

I don’t know if it was because it was hard to see clearly at night or what, but the Xianbei people rushed past not far away and did not come to the fort.

But before they had time to be happy, more Xianbei cavalry appeared outside the fort early the next morning.

They drove back and forth between mountain ridges and river valleys, the sound of bowstrings rang out continuously, and they captured and killed all the scouts and cavalry sent out by Fugu Fort, making the people on the city wall look horrified.

"I heard that Shao defeated the Xianbei in the mountains north of Mayi. The terrain here is complicated, and the Xianbei people may not be familiar with every trail. Dahu, do you dare to send troops to harass them and cut off the Xianbei's retreat like Shao did?" The person who said this was named Shi Hui, formerly known as "Zhang Du". He was the Jie leader who was fooled by Shi Le after he was beaten to the point where he had only 18 riders left.

Shi Le respected Zhang Du very much and regarded him as a confidant and elder brother, so he gave him the name "Shi Hui" and took away his soldiers to help his brother manage them to prevent him from overworked.

Also, in order to care for his brother and let him have more free time, Shi Le did not add any burden to him, provided him with high services and did not let him take care of anything. It can be said that he loved him very much.

That is, after running all the way to Hexi, he found that there was no one else available, so he begged his brother to come out and help again. He became the second-in-command in Fugu Fort, and there were a group of people around him to help Shi Hui share the pressure.

At this point, Shi Hui didn't want to argue with Shi Le anymore and just asked him what to do now.

Shi Le was somewhat moved when he heard Shi Hui's words, and said, "Let's discuss it carefully after dinner."

"Your Majesty." Zhang Jing couldn't help but say, "I heard that the soldiers of Shao's mansion have been trained for many years, and most of them wear iron armor and are skilled. The people who blocked them are probably Luonan's brave soldiers. They dared to charge at the cavalry formation. How could the people of Fugu Fort be able to do that? Aren't they a little too arrogant?"

Shi Le fell silent after hearing this.

How could he not know? The people of Fugubao were military settlers, who spent most of the year farming, had poor food, and had few armors, which was a huge difference from the soldiers who had their own troops to help them farm.

But is there any other solution now? Shi Le couldn't think of one.

Open the fort gate, charge on horseback, and fight a decisive battle with the Xianbei?

You can try, but Shi Le has a limited number of elite soldiers who are good at cavalry warfare, and he might be overwhelmed by the large number of Xianbei cavalry.

If we continue to defend, the initiative will be in the hands of others.

Once the Xianbei people knew he was here, they would probably mobilize a large army to surround him, and he would be unable to leave even if he wanted to. Thinking of this, Shi Le started to laugh at himself. Was he still a big shot? Would the Xianbei people really value him?

"We have to give it a try." Shi Le turned to look at Zhang Jing and said, "If it doesn't work—"

Zhang Jing's eyes narrowed.

"It's good to make a decision early." Shi Le whispered to himself.

******
While Shi Le was trapped in the city, Shao Xun met with the newly arrived tribesmen in Yanchi.

To be precise, they were the tribesmen of his son Shao Zhen.

Although Lao Shao had many faults, he was really good to his children, even the "illegitimate child" who was lost outside.

The first group of people who arrived here consisted of 1,000 tents, about 5,200 people, and were settled at the foot of the mountain in Liangcheng County.

"Which tribe are you from?" Shao Xun asked, looking at the nobleman wearing gold earrings.

"From the Pilou tribe." The man answered weakly.

"Are there any members of our clan?" Shao Xun asked again.

"All the hundreds of families behind me are gone." The man pointed casually and said, "The young and strong men who were good at fighting died in the mountains. Now the only ones left are the old and the young."

"Very honest." Shao Xun couldn't help laughing, then turned to the Minister Yang Man and said, "We'll break up these hundred families and send them to Woyang County."

The lady with golden earrings stood there in a daze with her mouth wide open.

Shao Xun laughed out loud at his silly look.

A group of the tribe's best soldiers died in battle, some fled, and the rest were ambushed by the Pingcheng army. They had limited ability to resist, so they were just the right size to be exploited.

"Your Majesty, why do you want to send people to Woyang?" Wang, who was listening at the side, couldn't help but ask.

"If Liangcheng County wants to support these 10,000 families, it must dig irrigation canals and plant all the land. Do they know how to plant millet and wheat?" Shao Xun asked. "Very few people know how to plant millet and wheat." Wang shook her head and said.

"That's right." Shao Xun said, "After the Hedouling tribe left, there were not many people left in Shanwu and Woyang counties. I think those small tribes also want to move west, so let's go. Liangcheng County will be divided into four townships, each with a fort and 1,000 households. Each household will be given 30 mu of land, and then divided into grasslands, so that they can be settled down."

"Three townships were set up in Shanwu County, two townships were set up in Woyang County, and one township was set up in Wucheng County. In this way, 10,000 households were dispersed in these four counties. The forts and fortresses in the four counties are connected, so they can support each other."

"I just took a quick look and found that there are indeed few strong men. Most of the men are old and young. The old ones are fine, but the young ones can still be trained. After they grow up and go through years of training, they will have some shape and may be of great use."

Wang was speechless.

Shao Xun ignored her and asked Yang Man again: "Has the book come down?"

"The angel is on the way." Yang Man replied.

The book of appointment was of course about enthroning Tuoba Lizhen.

Tuoba Shiyijian was the Duke of Dai, and Tuoba Lizhen, as the younger brother of the Duke of Dai, was conferred the title of "Duke of Liangcheng County".

The Hedouling tribe has returned to its old place in Wuyuan, and some small tribes that were relocated here have also begun to migrate - it doesn't matter if they don't want to leave, it will give them more strength.

The Duke of Liangcheng County is a legitimate feudal country, a country within the Dai Kingdom.

You know, Li Zhen is Shi Yijian’s beloved younger brother, so what’s wrong with being a county duke?
Brothers are united, and their strength is invincible. If Shiyijian is in trouble, Lizhen can still send troops to rescue him, how great.

Wang also knew about this. Shao Xun mentioned it in bed last night.

She is still a little confused.

The original plan was for her to help her son manage these ten thousand "brave men", but Shao Xun knew very well that it was unreliable for the mother to be in charge of the New Year's money, so how could he let Wang succeed?

"Let's set up the county mansion as soon as possible and set it up in Liangcheng." Shao Xun said to Yang Man, "You will send a letter to Pingyang later and ask them to select reliable and capable officials to serve as Liangcheng's internal historian, chief farmer, and lieutenant to help manage these ten townships."

"Yes." Yang Man replied.

As he spoke, he glanced at Wang from the corner of his eye.

This woman seemed to have figured something out, her expression wasn't as ugly as before, and I secretly praised her.

As expected, Shao Xun quickly said in a low voice: "I can't stay here forever. Liangcheng is small and weak, and its military equipment is even more worrying. If a slightly larger tribe attacks, the entire territory may fall. You have to help take care of it."

Wang nodded slightly.

There were basically no people from Jin outside Yanmen Pass, and King Liang really could not directly rule this land.

According to his motto, now it is "both" and "both".

It was necessary to unite the tribes and prevent them from dispersing and defecting to the enemy, or having their abandoned pastures occupied by more barbaric and unfamiliar tribes that had migrated from afar; at the same time, it was necessary to suppress the Xianbei tribes and find ways to make them obedient.

But is there anything good in the world that can have both? Wang didn't know.

"You seem to be in a good position now, but you are actually walking on thin ice." Shao Xun lowered his voice even more: "You are the Grand Lady of Dai State and Liangcheng State. Officials such as the Internal History, Lieutenant, and Minister of Agriculture are also helping you. They take care of Liangcheng State, and we have food and military supplies, and the war horses are trained. After five years, those young men will grow up, and we can organize a war army."

"Most of these tribal herdsmen are captives, and their morale is low, so it's a good idea to disperse them and resettle them. In this way, there will be no nobles above them, only the head of the village, the head of the township, and the officials of the county government. If anyone opposes you, you can mobilize the soldiers of Liangcheng to quell the rebellion."

"Think about it carefully. Do the guards of Pingcheng listen to you more or the four generals more? Do the Wuhuan from Guangning and Daijun who migrated here listen to you more or Wang Feng more?"

This is not entirely nonsense. The existence of Liangcheng State does have this purpose.

"You said before that all we needed was the salt pond, but I didn't expect that you had no good intentions in setting up Liangcheng County." Wang said softly.

"You are my woman, and Li Zhen is my son. Of course I have to consider you and your son. If there is a great turmoil in the country and things go wrong, you can go directly to Liangcheng without worry." Shao Xun said, "The two garrison troops of the Shanyu Protectorate can also provide you with support."

Wang took a deep breath and carefully weighed the pros and cons.

If Shao Xun had a way, he would definitely want to destroy the Dai Kingdom directly, and then drive the various tribes like dogs, and directly wipe out those who disobeyed, to show the majesty and dominance of the Central Plains king.

But he didn't have the ability to do so. Once he showed his intention, the Xianbei tribes would not be half-hearted like they were now, and would not surrender after a few resistances. When it came to a life-and-death situation, even if they really couldn't beat him, they would avoid you first, and wait for you to leave before coming back to kill you.

Therefore, her existence is still valuable, which is also the reason why Shao Xun wants to bargain with her.

As of now, the two sides are still in a situation where cooperation is beneficial to both sides, but separation is detrimental to both sides.

What's more, this man still has some conscience and has always been thinking about them and their son.

"What else do you want to do?" Wang asked.

"Of course, we are going to destroy the Xiongnu." Shao Xun said, "We have only sent out 30,000 troops, which is a little short. We can recruit more. Don't worry, I have sent a batch of silk to the north, and together with the unused military rations, it is enough to distribute rewards. All the tribesmen go south and sweep away everything they can. Isn't it wonderful to rob as much as you can?"

"They can only rob some cattle and sheep in the wild. If the Huns avoid fighting, I'm afraid..." Wang said.

"I have my own way." Shao Xun said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)