Chapter 1137: Too Many Loyal and Brave Men

Chapter 1137: Too Many Loyal and Brave Men

Chapter 1137: Too Many Loyal and Brave Men

Three months have passed since the autumn harvest. This year, local governments have been very active, with a total of about 8 million hu of grain as "rent" and more than 5 million rolls of silk, cloth and felt as "taxes", which together are called "rent and taxes", also known as "taxes" - taxes are actually combined, and the sub-items are reflected in the Yong and Tiao.

It is actually impossible to utilize all the eight million grains of food scattered in various mansions.

In the era when taxes were mainly in kind, taxes were really just numbers, just for fun. Can the taxes collected by the Youzhou Mansion be used in Jiangling? Impossible.

If you conquer Shuzhong, the grain collected there can only be used in Shuzhong, or some of it can be transported to Jingzhou via the Yangtze River. If you want to use it in Guanzhong? Ask Zhuge Liang.

This is not the end of the Qin Dynasty. Liu Bang was lucky and was able to transport grain to Guanzhong by water, but this is no longer possible.

Therefore, Shao Xun mobilized a total of about 4 million hu of grain from the Di Pavilion, which was already his best effort.

The wealthy families in Guanzhong, Yuzhou, Yanzhou, Jingzhou, Sizhou and several counties in the southern part of Jizhou also collected an additional 5 million hu of grain, and brought their own farmhands to help transport it to Chang'an, Yongxian, Nanyang and Xiangyang.

The captains of the Duzhi department in various places worked almost as hard as they could. A transport team often commanded hundreds of strong men, and they transported provisions and equipment by boats, rafts, vehicles and even various kinds of pack animals.

The tribal chiefs selected their own men according to the assigned quota of men, and sent them to various assembly points with their soldiers and cattle and sheep to report for duty.

Chang'an and Nanyang also became two large slaughtering centers.

The court used silk to purchase many livestock, slaughtered them together, and pickled and dried the meat.

Cheese, a food that is easy to carry and can satisfy hunger, was sent to the front lines in bags and stockpiled.

Every war is a process where wealth is destroyed...

"Has Jin Zheng set off?" Shao Xun asked softly in the west wing of Taiji Hall.

Most of those standing beside Shao Xun were eunuchs, namely, Shizhong Yang Man, Liu Runzhong, Sanqi Changshi Duan Mobo, and Xin Mi.

The former Grand Chamberlain Zu Ying passed away at the beginning of this year, and Zu Yue, Zu Huan and others returned home to mourn.

Thousands of troops under Zu Yue were reorganized, the old and weak were eliminated, and they were incorporated into the civilian households of Runan and Ruyin counties. A large sum of money was spent to recruit brave warriors to serve as soldiers in Wuyuan State. Unfortunately, the effect was not good. After wasting money and deception, in the end only more than 300 people were willing to bring their families north.

The rest of the people were led by Xu Liu to Guanzhong, and were temporarily under the command of Jin Zheng. They were obviously going to fight with Cheng Jun in the mountains of Hanzhong. I wonder what Zu Yue, who was in mourning at home, would feel when he knew about this.

If you don't dare to rebel, then this is all that can be done.

"Governor Jin has arrived in Yong County." Yang Man replied.

Shao Xun nodded, then looked at Duan Mobo and said, "Mr. Duan will set out today and serve as the military supervisor. There must be no mistakes."

"I obey your order." Duan Mobo is not very old, but his hair is full of white. It is obvious that he has not adapted well to the Central Plains these years and his life is not particularly comfortable.

The rank of Palace Attendant is not low, but he has no specific responsibilities. For Duan, who has been used to giving orders for the first half of his life, it is indeed a bit uncomfortable.

Once people like him lose their power, the speed at which they age is truly alarming.

"Tell Jin Zheng not to rush." ​​Shao Xun told Duan Mobo, "When Ge Gong left Hanzhong, the most difficult thing was food and grass. Tell him to store enough food and grass before fighting, and not to rely on the fluke mentality of losing food to the enemy. As the saying goes, you should think about defeat before thinking about victory. My family is big and my business is great, so I don't need him to take risks anymore. Just fight steadily."

"I obey your order." Duan Mobo replied.

Shao Xun thought again to see if there was anything he had missed.

Jin Zheng was the governor of four states, Yong, Qin, Liang and Yi. Fighting against Cheng was his job, so he was naturally responsible for the war in one direction.

By the beginning of winter, he had assembled an army of 3,600 men each from the Left Changzhi Guard, the Left and Right Feilong Guards, and 2,400 men from the Left Xiaoqi Guard, for a total of 13,200 palace soldiers.

There were also 6,000 Black Spear Left Camp, 6,000 Silver Spear Left Camp, 5,000 Chang'an hereditary soldiers, 2,000 Qinzhou hereditary soldiers, and 4,000 Zu Yue troops, a total of 23,000 people.

At the same time, more than 100,000 Hu and Han men from Yong and Qin states were conscripted. They were mainly responsible for logistics - of course, sometimes they also had to participate in battles, such as sieges.

More than 110,000 men (including more than 10,000 soldiers from the government) serve 36,000 combat and auxiliary troops. It seems like a lot, but if you consider the difficult terrain and supply difficulties, you may feel that it is not enough.

Shao Xun had already ordered Shao Jin, who was on his way to Chang'an, to stop and escort a batch of grain to the outskirts of Yong County, where he then stayed permanently. With the assistance of various Duzhi captains, he transferred grain and military supplies and was given the title of "Yongzhou Transport Envoy".

It is worth mentioning that starting from Hu Tou’s post as “Youzhou Envoy”, Shao Xun began to “create” various temporary envoy positions.

This kind of position with the title of "envoy" is not a temporary one. It is set up according to the situation and dismissed when the situation is completed. It has no rank and is not a regular official position. It was set up purely to make up for the defects of the official system. After all, there were only more than 10,000 officials in the Jin Dynasty. There were slightly more in the Daliang Dynasty, but not much more.

Except for the Tuqi Commander of Youzhou, the guards assigned to the six sons were not withdrawn. After all, as a transportation hub for food and military supplies, Yong County also needed a large army to guard it. The purpose was not to prevent the formation of an army, but to prevent possible rebels in Guanxi.

After finishing his explanation with Duan Mobo, Shao Xun looked at Xin Mi again and said, "Xin Qing can go to Jiangling and serve as the military supervisor."

"I obey your command." Xin Mi knelt behind the desk and bowed when he heard the words.

The military commander in the Badong direction is undoubtedly my nephew Shao Shen.

He was no longer in charge of the military affairs of the six prefectures. In July and August, he was appointed as the "General of the Western Expedition" and the "Envoy with Special Envoys to Command the Military Affairs of Jingzhou on Land and Water and to Guard Jiangling", and had the military power of the entire Jingzhou. Shao Xun also assigned him a military advisor: He Lun, the former left chief of the Shanyu Palace.

Tang Jian, a deputy minister of defense, was promoted by Huojian to be the governor of Jingzhou and governed Xiangyang.

In the Jin Dynasty, the governor-general repeatedly encroached on the power of the provincial governor, to the extent that in the end the governor-general of a state was often above the provincial governor and possessed actual military and political power over a state. However, this was not the case during the Cao Wei and early Jin dynasties.

First, it is because in times of peace the governor does not have much authority to interfere in civil affairs;

The second reason is that although the provincial governor and even the prefect had no right to disobey the orders issued by the commander-in-chief during the war, they had the right to report to the emperor.

For example, during the Qinglong period, when Sun Wu attacked the new city of Hefei, the governor Man Chong wanted to lead his troops to rescue it, but the prefect of Runan Tian Yu disagreed and "submitted a petition to the emperor, who agreed to it."

I can't disobey you, but I can ask the emperor to give you an order.

The third is the constraints of the shogunate’s military advisors.

In that era, military advisors were always sent by the imperial court and were responsible for supervising the governor-general. Once the governor-general was unable to perform his duties, the military advisor would take over directly.

For example, when Yang Hu was ill, he appointed Du Yu to replace him, and he was given the title of General Pingdong and commanded the Southern Expedition Army.

Wei Guan and Xian Yuying also had experience of taking over the power of the governor as military advisors.

In short, the position of the military advisor was strengthened, and he served as the deputy chief of the shogunate to monitor and restrict the governor.

Unfortunately, this system of mutual control between the upper and lower levels became almost a mere decoration in the late period of Sima Yan. The upper and lower levels were in collusion with each other. The chief of staff recruited staff members above the rank of Zhonglang (including military advisors), which should have been reviewed by the court. However, it was completely reduced to a formality, and the military advisor became the chief of staff's confidant.

Shao Ze had served as a military advisor to the mistress, Concubine Pei, in Kaocheng. He knew only too well how much power a military advisor had.

At that time, he was the mistress's "confidant". He respected her during the day and was very polite to her at night. He would not dare to act rashly unless the mistress gave him a cold look, and he repeatedly offended her.

He Lun went there to supervise Shao Shen.

The number of troops along this route is between 50,000 and 60,000.

There were 6,000 Silver Spear Central Camp, 6,000 Black Spear Right Camp, 3,600 Left and Right Jinwu Guards, 3,600 Left and Right Yulin Guards each, 2,400 Right Cavalry Guards, 3,000 hostage soldiers, 15,000 Hebei Town Soldiers, and 10,000 Bingzhou Hu Soldiers, totaling nearly 57,000 people.

Yuzhou, Yanzhou, Sizhou and Jingzhou conscripted 80,000 able-bodied men, plus naval forces, to provide logistical services - because of the Yangtze River water transportation, the number of logistics personnel could be greatly reduced and consumption was greatly reduced.

The two armies had a total of more than 90,000 auxiliary soldiers, which was quite large. If it weren't for the water transport that could greatly offset the transportation disadvantage, it would probably take 300,000 men to transport all kinds of supplies.

There is no doubt that this is a "national war".

When a lion fights a rabbit, he also uses all his strength.

Shao Xun never underestimated Li Cheng, because this was a regime in its ascendant period, not a regime in decline that had been at peace with itself for a long time. He mobilized 300,000 men, tens of thousands of horses, and hundreds of ships just to destroy this separatist force in one blow.

If this still doesn't work, he will go into battle himself.

"Finally, I want to talk about the north." Shao Xun looked at the two ministers and said, "Mr. Liu, I appoint you as the 'Pacifier of Daibei'. Go to Pingcheng with the imperial seal and comfort the tribes one by one to prevent them from causing chaos. I hand over the Luoyan Army and the Youzhou Tuqi Supervisor to you. Remember, you are the pacifier with the imperial seal and have the power of life and death."

"Your Majesty..." Liu Runzhong was a little surprised, and then a little moved.

"Gong Ji, you know the relationship between you and me, so why do you have to do this? If I don't trust you, who else can I trust?" Shao Xun patted Liu Runzhong's shoulder gently and said.

"Your Majesty..." Liu Runzhong wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and choked up, "Your Majesty, do not regard me as humble and give me this important task. I really don't know what to say."

After he finished speaking, he paused and said, "I will write a letter and ask those losers to reorganize the troops. Before the end of winter, there will be no less than 30,000 cavalrymen out of Yanmen. I will deal with that lowly servant Murong Wei myself."

"Pingcheng! Pingcheng!" Shao Xun pulled Liu Runzhong's hand again and said, "Why do we need to attack the Murong clan? Stabilizing the Dai Kingdom is a great achievement. I just want to stabilize the grassland situation now."

"Yes, yes, I understand." Liu Runzhong nodded repeatedly.

Shao Xun looked at Yang Man again and said, "Zu Yan, you and I have known each other in Liang County for more than 20 years. Now you can be the pacification envoy of Youzhou and go to Beiping with the imperial seal."

Yang Man sighed secretly and said, "I will write a letter back now. I think it will not be difficult for Yang's elite troops to gather 10,000 soldiers. They will be able to march to Beiping in the twelfth month to pacify the tribes and prevent them from causing chaos."

He knew that there were too few soldiers in Youzhou and the town commanders could not necessarily be completely trusted.

In the past, the Duan tribe of the Xianbei and the Murong clan had fought each other, but in recent years, there has been frequent exchanges between Beiping and Liaoxi. Do you dare to say that they are reliable? In fact, they are all fence-sitters.

With 10,000 soldiers from the Yang family who have fought in the war years guarding the city, it should be able to extinguish the thoughts of some ambitious people.

After listening to this, Shao Xun smiled and said, "With so many loyal and brave men, why should the world worry about injustice?"

(End of this chapter)