Chapter 922 Cause and Effect

Chapter 922 Cause and Effect

Chapter 922 Cause and Effect
In late June, after several days of attacks, the defenders of Muguayuan finally could not hold on any longer.

The six thousand soldiers of the Heilongjiang Right Camp were badly beaten and suffered heavy casualties.

However, after experiencing the war, their temperament has changed, and they seem to be stronger than before training.

"The thief is quite stubborn." Mi Huang was a little surprised.

At least half of the people in Muguayuan had left, leaving only five or six hundred households, most of whom were Di and Qiang people. However, they all went into battle, including men, women, young and old. Even an old man who had lost all his teeth took a wooden spear and fought on the city wall. Children aged five or six years old carried military supplies and equipment with great effort, going back and forth, up and down. Old women with white hair carried water and delivered meals.

"If the people are not strong enough, they don't deserve to live here." Zhao Wei, former deputy commander of the Silver Spear Middle Camp and current commander of the Black Spear Right Camp, said: "Thanks to the hard work of our soldiers, we finally captured this city."

After saying that, he cursed again: "You really don't know what you are talking about. Shi Le and Shi Hu have already escaped, but you still resisted for so long."

Mi Huang ignored the furious Zhao Wei and summoned the military officials from Kelan County who were crossing the river with the army, saying, "When the next batch of boats cross the river, send all the captives from Mugua to Jinyang and enroll them as laborers."

"Yes, sir." Several people responded in unison.

After saying this, they all looked at the less than 2,000 men, women, and children with resentment. They also had many casualties, and they wished they could slaughter all the captives.

On the first day of July, the Heilongjiang Right Battalion, having rested, set off again.

Mi Huang was stationed in the newly acquired Muguayuan, responsible for receiving the ferry and guarding the supplies.

Zhao Wei led more than 5,000 soldiers from the Right Camp and more than 4,000 men from Kelan and marched northwest. Four days later, he arrived at Fugu. Unexpectedly, the place was deserted. All valuable property was gone, and many houses had been demolished for fire. Only puddles of dried horse manure remained inside and outside the fortress.

After much difficulty, they found a few civilians hiding in the nearby ravines. After asking around, they learned that Shi Le's uncle and nephew had broken through the encirclement at night many days ago and were nowhere to be found.

Some people followed and fled southwards, and no one knew where they were now. Those who did not want to flee or did not have time to flee were captured by the Xianbei cavalry, who said they were going to sell them.

Of course, any valuable property was also looted by the Xianbei, including cattle and sheep grazing in the wild and grain stored in cellars.

Zhao Wei wanted to capture the Di and Qiang people who had escaped, but gave up after thinking about it.

The terrain of Shangjun is like a dream.

The two gangs were walking on two mountain plateaus and could see each other, but if you really wanted to fight, it would be extremely difficult. The winding and rugged road in the middle would make you vomit blood.

Not to mention, there are so many ravines and valleys here, and there are too many places for people to hide. How lucky do you need to be to find the other person and catch him?
After leaving a few hundred men to guard Fu Valley, Zhao Wei continued to move forward towards Gushan Fort, while at the same time inquiring about the news of Jin Zheng's troops heading south.

At this time, Jin Zheng had already left Liangu and headed for Baitu County.

Lian Gu surrendered directly.

This fortress had more than 5,000 soldiers and civilians, and was besieged for several days by the cavalry of the Qiudun clan that came south. After failing to capture it, the cavalry moved south, but soon the cavalry of the Yilou clan came south and besieged it for several days again, and even tried to attack it once, but nothing was achieved except leaving hundreds of corpses.

Jin Zheng arrived here on June 28th. After persuading the soldiers to surrender, most of them were from Yecheng and cried with joy. They opened the city and surrendered.

After Jin Zheng recaptured this place, he left hundreds of people to monitor it, and recruited the men in Liangu Fort as vanguards to march south to Baitu.

Baitu County had been taken over by the Xianbei who moved south, and it was estimated that there was nothing left of it.

On the southern front, Liu Can was stationed in Huayin, where he transferred cavalry troops to the north while urging the infantry to defend the city.

Hou Feihu tried to capture the Puzhou Guandong City but failed.

Pei Kuo was also ordered to attack Tongguan, but suffered heavy casualties and was unable to capture it.

If they had not taken a detour through the grasslands and marched south, they would probably have failed to capture these two places even if a hundred thousand men had died in battle, unless the Huns themselves were in internal turmoil.

No troops were mobilized from Nanyang to attack Wuguan, because the Wu army marched north from Xiangyang, defeated the Nanyang army in Xinye, and attacked all the way to Yuyang.

Le Kai, the governor of Mianyang North, gritted his teeth and did not ask for help, continuing to play a turn-based battle with the enemy in Xiangyang.

******
In order to better receive information from various battlefields, Shao Xun moved his camp to Shanwu.

In his spare time, in addition to training his troops, he spent most of his time digging ditches and handling government affairs.

"Order to set up two Longxiang Prefectures in Luoyang, Mangshan and Yique, and reorganize the Luoyang Central Army Cavalry with more than 2,000 soldiers. If there are not enough, recruit descendants of Youzhou Tuqi Du who are familiar with archery and horsemanship from Yingchuan and Runan to supplement them. This is the Right Cavalry Guard."

"Issue an order to establish the Ruicheng Longxiang Prefecture in the south of Zhongtiao Mountain, and select meritorious soldiers from the Luoyang Central Army to recruit them. The eight Longxiang Prefectures in the three counties of Pingyang, Hedong, and Hongnong, with 9,600 soldiers, will be organized into the Right Winged Guards."

"Are there enough troops?" Shao Xun looked at the Secretary General Lu Chen and asked.

Lu Chen barely needed to count, and blurted out: "There are about 13,000 households and more than 54,000 people now."

"That's enough." Shao Xun said, "The Xianbei who broke into Hexi should be able to sell some miscellaneous Hu here. After this war is over, order all guards to review the military roster again. If there are soldiers who died in battle, died of illness, or were injured or disabled, their sons and daughters should be selected to fill the roster."

"Yes." Seeing that Shao Xun had nothing else to say, Lu Chen went to the desk beside him and wrote the order.

Shao Xun continued to work beside Zhongling River.

Tens of thousands of Jie cavalry were herding horses and on guard in the periphery, the Silver Spear Camp was stationed near the county town, and the innermost circle was two thousand personal troops.

Nearly 10,000 Yellow-headed soldiers joined him in clearing sewage, digging ditches, and leveling fields near Zhonglingchuan.

Shao Xun is still very diligent.

The sickles flew up and down, cutting down the reeds near the riverbank in large patches.

He even found a few wild duck eggs in the reeds. He was so happy that he asked the chief chef Tong Qianjin to spread them in an iron pot for him to eat at noon.

The newly arrived people from Liangcheng State were building houses.

They were not very good at these and would have preferred to pitch a tent out of felt, but their superiors strictly prohibited this.

There are unfamiliar people around me. I look left and right, but I don’t know where the leader is. I feel lost and empty. What should I do?

When Shao Xun was cutting reeds, he watched coldly and sneered.

It's okay for those who were originally ordinary herdsmen, but it's funny for those who have been herdsmen for several lifetimes. They can't adapt to not having a head of the family above them.

The troops transporting grain and grass from Henan and Hebei have not decreased. When passing through Liangcheng, they will unload some grain to provide food for the 50,000 people and seeds for next year's spring farming. In addition, these 50,000 people also have about 400,000 cattle and sheep, which is a serious shortage and is not at the level of a normal tribe.

They can just barely survive this winter, with neither enough to eat nor starving to death. They will probably be able to harvest more food next year and their lives will be a little better.

It will take about three or four years to get back on track.

The candidate for the domestic historian of Liangcheng has been decided, and he is Guo Rong, the prefect of Leping.

This person is fluent in Jie and Wuhuan languages, which is his biggest plus. He also has decent abilities and has led troops in battles, making him very suitable for this position.

The chief farmer was Chu Fu, the official in charge of land management in Liang State. He participated in measuring land many times, compiled land and household registers, and resettled the farmers who had been cleared out. In the early days of Liangcheng State, his experience was useful.

Of course, the more important reason was that this person was recommended by Prime Minister Yu Chen, and Shao Xun was willing to give him face - Guo Rong was recommended by Military Commander Wang Yan.

The lieutenant was Yang Quan, the former general of the Liang State.

He was also the first to arrive, bringing with him hundreds of Yang clan followers as his personal soldiers, intending to use this as a basis to train the young men of Liangcheng State.

From this, we can also see that Yang Quan's attitude was very good and he did not find this borderland hardship at all. Shao Xun was so happy that he gave him a post as a Zhonglang in the Shanyu Protectorate.

As for the positions of prime minister, tutor, friend, literary official, left and right eunuchs, registrar, academician, and imperial physician, the selection of candidates is still ongoing.

All other positions will be selected by the Wang family.

In this way, the framework of Liangcheng State was established.

Tuoba Lizhen lived in a mountain city, surrounded by a group of generals from the Central Plains.

The well-read Wenxue explained classics and history to him.

Teachers and friends accompanied him here, admonishing and correcting his words and deeds at any time.

The Internal Secretary, the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Agriculture encouraged him to engage in farming and animal husbandry in order to accumulate national strength.

The Dianshuling was in charge of transmitting and handling official correspondence for him.

The school official was in charge of education in the entire county.

The Langzhongling was responsible for the security of the night guards and for selecting talented people in the county.

The lieutenant trained the troops and drilled the troops for him.

The existence of Liangcheng State is one of the major achievements of this Northern Expedition, and it was not easy to obtain.

From a practical point of view, the easiest place to get is actually Mayi County, because it is connected to Kelan and Yanmen counties and is very close to Dajin. But in reality, the local Wuhuan people account for the majority of the population, and it is unlikely that they will side with you at this stage.

The State of Liangcheng is located to the north of Mayi and controls the important road between the two capitals of Pingcheng and Shengle. It is even more unlikely that they will let you occupy it.

There may be further reversals in these four counties in the future.

After cutting a large area of ​​reeds, Shao Xun began to dig the soil and clear the ditch.

At this time, Liu Yena arrived in a carriage, bringing lunch she had made herself.

These days, Shao Xun is surrounded by two women, Liu and Wang.

After all, Wang's status was not very convenient, and Liu Ye was not polite either. He and Shao Xun slept and woke up together like a couple, and they were so happy that they didn't want to go back.

Shao Xun smiled at the woman and then looked across the Zhongling River.

A large group of people had just been escorted in.

The team was very long, arranged in four columns, and they staggered forward.

Next to the column, there were horse-drawn carriages one after another, with the elderly, the weak, women and children sitting on them.

Judging from their hair accessories, they should be mixed barbarians from Henan.

"The remnants of the Bai tribe of the Xianbei." Liu Ye brought a plate of meat to Shao Xun and said, "I shot the yellow sheep myself."

Shao Xun picked up a piece, put it in his mouth and chewed it, saying: "The roasted meat is cooked to the right temperature, it is very delicious."

Liu Ye also tasted it, but felt that it didn't taste that good. After looking at Shao Xun, the smile on his face became even more pronounced.

"More than 4,000 Bai tribe Xianbei were captured by the Hedouling tribe in Wuyuan. After they left, they came from Shuofang to graze, and the Hedouling tribe raided and captured them directly." Liu Ye said, "My brother personally led people to take them over. Dou Qin didn't want silk, but food. He must have held some more people in his hands, maybe more than what we see now."

Shao Xun nodded and said, "Anyone who is not stupid knows to keep the able-bodied men and women, and sell the rest to me. He also wants to run his own tribe, so more households are definitely not a bad thing."

If you put yourself in his shoes, Shao Xun would also select among the captives, keep some for himself, and exchange the rest for food. This is a normal operation for the Hedouling tribe.

He quickly looked away, washed his hands by the river, and sat down to eat lunch.

Huang Zheng, the commander of the imperial army, came over quietly and reported, "Your Majesty, Pingyang has reported that the Di and Qiang tribes in Fengyi heard that the Xianbei were heading south, so they responded by killing the Xiongnu officials, cutting off the food supply to the three cities of Pujin Pass, and sending envoys to implore your army to cross the river."

Shao Xun took it, took a look, and said with a smile: "This is the final chapter for Liu Can."

Puzhou Pass and Tongguan were the defense lines that Liu Han focused on. They were powerful weapons for bleeding the Jin Dynasty and neither of them could be missing.

Now that Puzhou is gone, there is no need to defend Tongguan.

Now that Tongguan is gone, there is no need to defend Puzhen.

If one of the two is removed, the effectiveness of the other will be greatly reduced.

The karma owed by Liu Cong was eventually repaid by Liu Can.

(End of this chapter)