Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 375 The storm is coming
"What are you doing, you barbarian?"

"Would you like to go to the military camp with us and have some fun?"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Around the beginning of summer, as the Dangxiang and Shatuo tribes successively moved into Wuyuan County, Yanzhou, the public security in Wuyuan County became visibly chaotic.

Even though the generals repeatedly restricted them, for the two departments who did not attach importance to military discipline, taking advantage of the shopping opportunity to come to the county to have fun was a rare good job.

Several Shatuo people looked at the fair-skinned girls in the county and couldn't help but pull them into their arms and knead them.

The woman was completely powerless to resist except for screaming and shouting.

The people of the four states lowered their heads, and the officials from the government office did not dare to show up for a long time.

Fortunately, these Shatuo people also knew not to go too far. After satisfying their desire, they reluctantly let go of the women and watched them flee in panic, laughing.

After the happy occasion, the Shatuo people took the wine and meat they had bought and left the city towards the military camp.

Compared with the desolation of later generations, the greening of Yanzhou in this era was still quite good. Walking out of the city, you would see lush green crops. Further away, there were small forests scattered around, as well as grasslands extending hundreds of miles to the north.

This grassland was called the "Mao Us Desert" in later generations, but in this era, it only had sandy areas and small pieces of desert covering more than ten miles in the western part of the grassland.

If you ride a horse at a gallop, you can cross this stretch of sand in more than half an hour.

However, due to the uncontrolled nomadism of the descendants of the Nine Zhaowu Clans and the Dangxiang people, coupled with the continuously decreasing temperature in the external environment, it is only a matter of time before this sandy land turns into a desert if it is not properly managed.

But for nomadic people, if this place turns into a desert, they will just go somewhere else to graze. After all, the world is so big that there are grasslands everywhere.

"Xilulu——"

Horses neighed and two cut-down forests gradually appeared in the distance.

The two forests each covered hundreds of acres, but now they have been completely cut down, leaving only difficult-to-deal-with tree stumps.

These disappeared trees reappeared in another form on the grassland three or five miles away.

The two camps were about a mile in circumference, with hundreds of horse-drawn carriages parked outside the camp gates. Countless Shatuo and Dangxiang people were moving supplies on the carriages.

These supplies included boxes of copper coins and carts of armor and weapons.

More than thirty Shatuo people who were purchasing supplies entered the camp with more than fifty carts of grain and vegetables. These grains and vegetables were quickly taken away, and hundreds of sheep were also driven to the corners of the military camp.

At the camp gate, Zhuxie Chixin and the young man looked at the unarmored Shatuo people who couldn't wait to put on their armor and show off proudly. They were also very satisfied.

They had been stationed in Yanzhou for half a month. During this period, a batch of armor, weapons, and money had been delivered here every five days for them to share with the Dangxiang Pingxia tribe not far away.

The leader of the Pingxia tribe was Li Sigong, who was only eighteen years old. Because he participated in the suppression of Wang Shouwen's rebellion with his father, he was given the national surname and the status of a military envoy of the Pingxia tribe.

Compared with his father, Li Sigong was more thoughtful. He had the same idea as the Shatuo people and only brought a small number of armored cavalry.

After going south, he and Zhuye Chixin successively asked the court for money, food, armor and weapons, and in order for the subsequent war to proceed smoothly, these things were delivered to them one after another.

"Father, we have obtained more than 700 sets of armor and weapons, and more than 3,000 strings of cash. Will the court continue to provide us with money and food?"

"definitely will!"

At the camp gate, the young man asked, and Zhuxie Chixin also behaved very confidently.

He looked at the young man and continued, "Wing Saint, the battlefield is not like an ordinary hunting trip. You must stay in the center of the army and don't run around randomly."

"Don't worry, Dad. I know what to do." Zhuxie Yisheng (Note ①) nodded in response, then looked towards the Pingxia military camp not far away.

"If the imperial court had thought of us at the beginning, then we would be the ones with the imperial surname now, right?"

Although he was a Shatuo, Zhuxie Yisheng yearned for Han surnames and Han culture, because ever since he could remember, the Han people in Daibei had always dominated.

"Indeed, if the court had chosen us, Wang Shouwen would have been killed long ago."

Zhuxie Chixin nodded and said this, then he and Zhuxie Yisheng walked into the military camp.

At the same time, troops from various towns in the east began to move into Fengxiang County, which was more than 700 miles away from Yanzhou.

Although the imperial court only recruited 20,000 men from the six garrisons, and each garrison had no more than 3,000 soldiers, including the civilian laborers, there were nearly 40,000 men.

Fortunately, after settling down, each town dismissed its laborers and obeyed Wang Shi's military orders.

"Kill, kill, kill—"

On the north bank of the Wei River, Wang Shi stationed military camps from various towns. The camps stretched for three miles from north to south, and for five miles from south to north.

Although Wang Shi proposed to dispatch 40,000 troops from the eight garrisons northwest of Beijing, garrisons such as Shuofang, Tiande, Zhenwu, and Xiasui did not send troops because of their smaller forces.

In fact, only four towns, namely Fengxiang, Bining, Tianxiong and Jingyuan, actually sent troops.

Needless to say, the Tianxiong Army, as a force stationed in Qinlong and facing Longyou, had 12,000 soldiers locally, including 4,000 elite cavalry and 8,000 cavalry and infantry. The Jiedushi Li Chengxun was the strongest among all the towns, and all his soldiers were included in the team to attack Longyou.

In addition, Jingyuan and Bining towns each had 20,000 soldiers, so this time each dispatched 10,000 soldiers to gather in Fengxiang. Although Fengxiang town had 30,000 soldiers earlier, after Li Changyan and Li Changfu lost thousands of them, it now only has 25,000 soldiers.

To be on the safe side, Wang Shi planned to lead 8,000 soldiers and horses out of the town, and the remaining 17,000 soldiers and horses would be stationed elsewhere to prevent Liu Jilian from taking a shortcut to attack Guanzhong.

In this way, 40,000 elite soldiers from the eight towns in the northwest of Beijing were gathered together, while 20,000 soldiers from the six towns in Guandong and 20,000 soldiers from the Shen Ce Army were also stationed in Fengxiang camp respectively.

An army of 80,000 gathered here. Wang Shi also held the banner and mobilized 3,000 spearmen under his command to enter Guanzhong to serve as his personal guards to supervise the troops in various towns.

Eighty-three thousand people gathered in one place, with carriages and horses running every day, and people carrying food on their shoulders and hands.

Even so, Wang Shi was not in a hurry to mobilize his troops, but instead trained the three armies on the north bank of the Wei River.

If you want to train soldiers, you have to provide them with enough meat, so the amount of rice, wheat, vegetables and meat transported to the military camp every day is not a small amount. Yu Cong and Lu Yan, who are in charge of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Finance in Chang'an City, are also under increased pressure.

"In ten days, we consumed 20,000 sheep, 50,000 chickens and ducks, 20,000 dan of grain, and 20,000 jin of salt..."

"The money and grain consumed by these food and meat discounts is no less than 50,000 strings of cash."

"In just ten days, fifty thousand strings of cash were consumed. Wouldn't a hundred days be five hundred thousand strings of cash?"

"The food consumption plus military pay is at least 4.3 million strings of cash a year."

"The three thousand Shatuo and four thousand Tangut people in the north are not much better off. Although they don't need military pay, they still need to pay at least 7,000 strings of cash every five days. In the long run, it will not be a small amount."

"This is the cost of the garrison training. If we take the initiative to attack, including the cost of civilians, five million is not a small amount."

"In addition, the Shatuo soldiers and the Pingxia soldiers went south to fight without armor. In recent days, they have asked the court for more than 1,600 sets of armor and matching weapons. What do they think of the court?"

In the Southern Court, Lu Yan spoke impatiently, and the officials in the hall fell silent, with only Yu Cong trying to smooth things over.

"Wang Shaobao said that the three armies need at least one month of training so that they can fight each other on the battlefield. I think it makes sense."

"Let's report this to His Majesty. If His Majesty thinks it's okay, then it's okay."

After hearing what Yu Cong said, Lu Yan stood up and walked out with a unhappy look on his face.

Yu Cong shook his head and had to take people to summarize the expenses on a memorial, which Yu Cong sent to the palace.

In Xianning Palace, although Li Yi was somewhat surprised that an army of 90,000 consumed more than 60,000 strings of cash in ten days, he did not stop.

War is the most expensive thing, he has already understood this truth from the wars in recent years, so he did not remind Wang Shi to pay attention to the consumption of money and food.

The soldiers in the various garrisons must be provided with meat even if they are not trained on weekdays.

If the food is too ordinary and contains no meat, who knows if they will imitate the Jingyuan Army in the past and cause chaos?
Although the consumption is huge, the court is not unable to afford it.

"That's it for now." Li Yi put down the memorial. Yu Cong bowed and said, "The envoys sent to Khitan and Duokang have reported back with news."

"Approved." Li Yi nodded, and Yu Cong also spoke about the results of the envoys' mission to Duokang and Xiajiasi. Both forces demanded benefits from the Tang Dynasty, and even indicated that they could send troops to harass the rear of Longyou.

The Khitans would attack Liangzhou, and the Duokangs would attack Shanzhou, Guzhou, Diezhou, and Taozhou.

The price they offered was good, but Li Yi was not stupid. The harassment mentioned by the two parties was all in the rear, and he couldn't see their armies. How could he guarantee that they would really send troops?

However, Li Yi also knew that what he needed was to stabilize both sides and ensure the stability of the northern and western borders of the Tang Dynasty, so some money and silk should still be given.

"Reward: 30,000 pieces of Khitan silk and 20,000 pieces of Dokang silk."

Li Yi’s reward was not much, at least not enough to drive the two tribes to send troops, but it was enough to keep the two tribes temporarily safe.

As long as the Tang army can advance with great momentum, the two tribes will be like hungry wolves and share Longyou with the Tang Dynasty without him saying a word.

"Send someone to ask Wang Shi whether we can send troops in a month?"

"I accept the decree..."

Yu Cong agreed and was about to leave when he saw Li Yi continue to speak:

"Use Kang Chengxun and Xiao Ye to wipe out the bandits in Lushan and Dabie Mountains as soon as possible. I want to see the heads of Pang Xun and Wang Xianzhi."

"Send another message to Gao Pian, we need to wait for the imperial court's military order before we can send troops from Guankou to Gutaoguan."

"If there is an opportunity, we need to inform the court in advance."

"Besides that, Xichuan must not be in trouble. I don't want to see the Nanman appear in the heart of Xichuan again!"

"I obey your command." Yu Cong responded again, and then saw Li Yi stand up and walk down the golden platform.

"May you live for tens of millions of years. I will take my leave now."

Seeing Li Yi getting up and walking down the golden platform, Yu Cong also tactfully chose to leave.

At the same time he left, some people from Longyou also rushed to Didao in a dusty manner.

"teacher!"

On the fifth day of April, when Molu Danzeng hurried over from Songzhou and bowed respectfully before Liu Jilian, Li Ji, Cao Mao, Gao Jinda, Cui Shu and others were present.

In addition to them, there were Liu Jilong sitting in the main seat and Wei Gongluolu sitting in the third seat below.

Obviously, Liu Jilong already knew Shang Moyan's idea, and it was only because of Wei Gongluolu's reminder that Lu Danzeng was able to rush here as soon as Liu Jilong learned about it.

"You already know about this matter of your father?"

Liu Jilong's voice was calm, but every word he said was like a heavy hammer hitting Lu Danzeng's heart.

Lu Danzeng knelt on one knee, supported his knee with one hand, and said respectfully:
"My father is getting old, and he is gradually confused about some things. When I finish my studies in Songzhou and return, Duokang's loyalty to his teacher will continue!"

Mei Ludanzeng was very humble. Looking at his figure, Liu Jilong couldn't help but think of Shang Moyan more than ten years ago.

More than a decade ago, Shang Moyan seemed to have trusted and respected himself very much.

However, it has only been fifteen years since Shang Moyan met the two of them, and he has already become arrogant and always thinking about benefits.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong couldn't help but think of Shang Bibi, who used a strategy to defeat Lun Kongre when he was young and almost killed Lun Kongre in advance.

Shang Bibi and Shang Moyan, these two father and son really have not changed their personalities, both of them are wise at first but mediocre later.

Liu Jilong looked at Lu Danzeng and looked him up and down.

He didn't know whether Lu Danzeng would inherit his grandfather's and father's personalities when he got old, but at least he could still be used for the time being, not to mention that he didn't have much room for growth.

"Get up." Liu Jilong gestured and then threw Shang Moyan's letter in front of him.

Lu Danzeng bent down and picked up the letter. Liu Jilong continued, "I once said that your father will not have a second chance."

"Now is the second chance. I could have defeated your father before the imperial court attacked us, but I trust you, so I'm leaving this matter to you."

"Within two months, I need to see Duo Kang's 10,000 elite troops to assist Shang Duo Luo in guarding Maozhou."

Liu Jilong issued a final ultimatum to Meilu Danzeng, who bowed respectfully in response. Then, at Liu Jilong's wave of his hand, he left the Protectorate with Wei Gongluolu.

After they left, only Liu Jilong, Gao Jinda, Cui Shu, Li Ji and Cao Mao were left in the Protectorate Office.

The incense burner in the hall exuded the aroma of spices from time to time. Liu Jilong focused his mind and slowly moved his eyes across the map on the table, as if he was weighing something.

Seeing that Lu Danzeng and the others had completely disappeared, Li Ji was the first to break the silence, bowed and said urgently:
"General, the imperial army has gathered around us, especially the 80,000 troops in Fengxiang, who pose the greatest threat."

"If we just sit there and wait for them to surround us, the situation will be extremely unfavorable for us."

"In my humble opinion, it is better to take the initiative to seize the two states of Qin and Long where the Tianxiong Army is stationed, and push the battlefield to Guanzhong."

"In this way, we can not only disrupt the deployment of the imperial court, but also take the initiative and control the situation. We may be able to take advantage of the situation to attack Chang'an, just like in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms you wrote, and use the emperor to control the princes!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the hall fell silent, and Gao Jinda and Cao Mao even frowned slightly.

It sounds good to use the emperor to control the princes, but the emperor is not a dead object. How could he wait for them to capture him?

What's more, if you don't have the necessary means to use the emperor to control the princes, it can easily become a sharp knife that stabs you.

Because of this, Gao Jin hesitated for a moment, then slowly shook his head and said, "General, the Qinlong Road is steep and rugged, and the mountain road is rugged, making it extremely inconvenient to march."

"If we take the initiative to attack, the loss of food and supplies will be huge. Even if we can occupy Qin and Long states, I'm afraid we can only take Qin state. Long state is located to the east of Longshan Mountain. The situation is complicated and we may not be able to defend it."

"This will put us in a passive position, and we might even be pinned down by Wang Shi's troops."

"Our army already has fewer soldiers than the imperial court. If too many soldiers are tied up and too many civilians are consumed in transporting food and fodder, it will inevitably affect the summer and autumn harvests."

Cao Mao also nodded and took over the conversation, saying, "General, the river valley between Qinzhou and Weizhou is wide and suitable for cavalry operations. We don't need to attack Qinlong."

"What's more, Weizhou has been run like an iron barrel by Brother Chen and Brother Geng for more than ten years, and its defense is extremely tight. We might as well use this opportunity to consume the government troops, and our main force can take this opportunity to go north to seize Ling, Yan, Wei, and Huizhou under the jurisdiction of Shuofang Town."

"As long as we take over Shuofang Town, the threat from Longyou in the north will be greatly reduced, and Liangzhou and Lanzhou will no longer be harassed by the Tang army's special forces and cavalry."

"After we have secured the north, we will move south to take over Qin and Long. By then, we will have sufficient geographical advantages to march south or east to capture Xingyuan Prefecture in Shannan West Road, or Chengdu Prefecture in Jiannan Road."

The three of them expressed their opinions one after another. Cui Shu saw that everyone had spoken, so he couldn't keep silent either, so he smiled bitterly and said:
"What the three of you said makes sense. I am not good at military strategy, so I won't show off here."

"It is really difficult to decide on military strategy. I will let the commander make his decision."

As soon as he finished speaking, Gao Jinda, Cao Mao, and Li Ji also stood up, bowed to Liu Jilong, and said in unison: "Please let the commander make the decision!"

Facing the four people's questions, Liu Jilong hesitated for a moment before saying, "What you said makes sense, and what Cao Mao said is closer to my thoughts."

"I can't tell you exactly what I think right now, but I can make one thing clear."

"Our first priority is to take over the two towns and six states of Shuofang and Qinlong. We can even give up Longzhou. It will be enough as long as we can take Longshan."

"Xingyuan Prefecture cannot be fought for. If Xingyuan Prefecture is captured, the connection between the imperial court and Jiannan Road will be cut off, and Gao Pian is still busy in Xichuan."

"He is so active this time just to gain credit, and then occupy Jiannan Road and Shannan West Road, and coordinate the entire Sanchuan."

"Gao Pian is not easy to deal with. Leaving him in Xichuan will be a disaster for our army."

Liu Jilong took a deep breath, glanced at everyone, and then said:

"Send a message to Shang Duoluo and Zhang Chang, asking them to cooperate with each other and rely on Gutao Pass and the city to consume the troops of the East and West Sichuan. Never underestimate the enemy and go into battle."

"Once I have dealt with these government troops in the north, the two rivers will be easily taken..."

(End of this chapter)