Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 123
There was a bit of wind and sand outside today, and the livestock were a little uneasy.

Zhe Zongben looked at the Dingnan Army brigade from a distance, his eyelids twitched, it was no different from bandits!

Shouldn't the emperor's army of the Tang Dynasty be as soon as the army arrives, the Tu people obey, and then just give them a few orders?There are tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in the team in front of them, with bright armor and murderous aura.The grassland women and children were either sitting in the car or staggering on foot, obviously all of them were taken captive.Look at the cattle and sheep that can't be seen at the back. How many tribes have been wiped out?

Zhe Zongben even suspected that some tribes might be killed before they had time to surrender.The young and strong were slaughtered, and all the women and property were lost. This beating of Caogu was really ruthless!

In fact, it was not uncommon for martial arts men in the late Tang Dynasty to hunt grass valleys on the grasslands.The most typical one is Youzhou Town. There are many prefectures, counties, and villages north of the Great Wall. They go to the grass valleys of the Khitan people twice in three days, and at most 10,000+ cattle and sheep are captured at one time.Anyway, the Khitan people often went south to Youzhou to plunder, so everyone would fight each other.

The Tiande Army and the Zhenwu Army also did this, and their looting targets were mainly Uighurs, Tuyuhun, and Dangxiang.The most amazing thing is that there are many Uighur and Dangxiang soldiers in their troops. Sometimes when they go north, the Shufan tribes in their jurisdiction also go north to join in the fun, which makes people feel absurd.But thinking about it carefully, it seems to be a matter of course.

It is relatively rare for Xia Suijun to do this kind of thing, and it is probably the first time for Shao Dashuai in 20 years.Sure enough, the gang of lawless people from the Tiande Army were born, and they are familiar with this job, so there is no pressure at all.

"Shao Shuai." Zhe Zongben got off his horse and saluted from a distance.

"Grandpa, why do you need to be so polite?" Shao Shude laughed loudly, stepped forward quickly, and respectfully returned the salute.

Zhezong was going down the donkey, so he stopped saluting, and said, "Why is Shude so tricky? Grassland tribes, it's enough to make them fearful and obedient. Why do you have to go to war?"

"Xu Liwei." Shao Shude said sternly: "Shao has only been in the town for half a year, and the grassland tribes are more wait-and-see and contemptuous, so they don't take him seriously. They killed a few unsuspecting Tuoba lackeys along the way. If you speak again, there will be more people willing to listen.”

Zhe Zongben actually wanted to say that Tuoba's lackeys can also become his own.But everyone has been killed, so what's the point of talking at this time?

"General Zhou." Shao Shude shouted.

"The end is here."

"Let's rest for one night today. Tomorrow morning, send these goods and women back to Yinzhou first, and after the delivery with the governor of Song Dynasty, we will escort the food and grass to Dijinze to find someone."

"As ordered."

"General Zhe, there is a shortage of goods in the state. I won't hide it from you. After these cattle are sent back, they will be rented to the common people as official cattle for farming. There are many fields in Sui and Yinzhou. It's better to have enough. [-] cows should be trained more to make them used to farming, so that we can get farming easily." Shao Shude said: "In addition, the imperial court has cut off the food and pay, so I have to find a way out by myself and find some rewards for the soldiers. These sheep , will be rewarded to the sergeants in the future.”

During the investigation at Fan Yanbo's house, Shao Shude already learned that the price of a cow is more than 3000 yuan, and it will be unusable after ten years of farming. The average annual "depreciation" cost is [-] to [-] yuan.I rented out [-] cows to the common people, and charged a symbolic [-] yuan a year, which saved a lot of money for the common people. At the end of the ten-year use period, I basically saved [-] yuan, which is almost the original price of a cow.

It is impossible not to charge money. This is the spoils captured by the sergeants and cannot be given away for free. I can only rely on my prestige and cheekiness to reduce the rent to a reasonable level as much as possible to seek some benefits for the farmers.I'm afraid I won't be able to do this if I change the commander-in-chief.

Zhe Zongben was silent when he heard the words.This is the truth, not false at all.It's not easy to be a military leader. If you don't have food and pay, you have to be prepared to lose your head.The Dingnan Army has [-] soldiers and horses, and it must be very difficult to raise them, and they are also trembling.

While the two were talking, several leaders from Pang Qing's department came over and saluted respectfully.

Shao Shude was too lazy to talk nonsense with them, and he couldn't understand their language, so he folded medicine and translated: "I will pay my respects to the Heavenly God General of the Tang Dynasty."

The word Tian is very important in the customs of the party members, and it seems to be related to primitive worship.

The top leader of the party is called "Wuzu", which means "Qingtianzi", and they called the emperor of Song Dynasty "Huangtianzi".The highest official rank in later generations of Xixia is called "Mo Ning Ling", which means "the king of heaven", and it is a metaphor for the position of an extremely human minister.General Liu Fa of the Northern Song Dynasty defeated the Xia army repeatedly, and was called "the natural god general" by the Xia people.Zhe Jimin shot an arrow at the enemy chieftain and prayed for "God's help".

Its customs are the most respectful of heaven and earth, and everything must be called heaven.

Shao Shude didn't know much about party customs at first, and he consulted many people a few months before he set off for the expedition, and now he understands the concept of "naturally born generals".Without the sky, there is only the word "shen general", which is nothing.But a natural god general has extremely strong meanings of praise and respect.

"You are all abstainers from the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Since they are under the rule of the general, it is inconvenient for me to talk too much. As long as you pay tribute diligently and serve as a soldier, you will be safe." Shao Shude said.

"Follow your own destiny."

The area where Pang Qingbu is located is strictly speaking at the junction of the northern border of Xiazhou and the western border of Linzhou.But since people have already voted for Zhejia, I will give my father-in-law a face.Pang Qing's department can provide some cattle and sheep as supplies, and another five hundred soldiers will go to Dijinze with the army.

For these nomadic tribes, he is temporarily powerless, as long as they are obedient on the surface, how to manage them internally is up to him.Today's priority is still the Fan tribes in Sui and Yin prefectures. Those tribes are half herding and half farming, and it is easier to rule directly.After Tuoba Sigong is wiped out, some small tribes can find an opportunity to slowly annex them, and register their households as Qimin, so as to enrich their household registration in the state.

The older tribes were recruited and ordered to pay tribute and perform military service on a regular basis.In the future, we will find an opportunity to instigate its internal conflicts, make them split and hate.

In short, the principle is that the big ones become smaller, the strong ones become weaker, and finally digested and absorbed.Sui and Yin prefectures are destined to be the society, culture and system of the Han region.The two prefectures of Xia and You can be governed by a dual system.

"General Pei, General Zhe just mentioned that in a few days it will be the day when the Dijin Zefan Tribe worships the heavens, will Tuoba Sigong come?" After the Pang Qing tribe's leaders left, Shao Shude found someone to act as a temporary tribute to the painting Pei Shang asked.

After walking on the grassland for more than ten days, Pei Shang vaguely regained the feeling of fighting in the desert when he was young, and his spirit improved a lot. Hearing this, he replied: "My lord, this is a small sacrifice to heaven, once a year. Next year It is a great sacrifice to heaven once every three years, even if Tuoba Sigong himself does not come, he will send his brothers there, this is a big event."

Life on the grasslands is inherently difficult.The growth and decline of pastures, the breeding of cattle and sheep, etc., are almost entirely dependent on the sky, which is more dependent on the sky than the peasants in the Han area.The tribes gather together to sacrifice cattle and sheep to sacrifice to the heavens, expressing respect to the gods. This kind of collective activity gathered by various tribes occurs every three years.However, in normal times, each tribe or a few neighboring tribes will gather together to perform this kind of sacrifice, once a year.

After the founding of Xixia, this kind of big sacrifice to heaven was changed to once a year.The time was set at the end of the twelfth lunar month, which not only took into account the traditional festivals of the Xixia Han people, but also gathered party and tribe leaders, which was a bit political.

There is no Xixia at this time, and the customs are still the rules passed down on the grassland for thousands of years.The Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Turks are basically held at the end of April and early May when the pastures turn green, and the special ones are held once in the first month and September, three times a year.

"Your Majesty, since we have this meeting, why don't we gather elite cavalry and make a formidable advance to raid the land in one fell swoop and wipe out all these chieftains?" Pei Shang suddenly suggested.

Dijinze is rich in water and grass, and there are many tribes living around it.When they collectively sacrificed to the heavens, they must have been relatively lax in their defenses. If they could make a large-scale surprise attack and capture those prominent tribal leaders in one fell swoop, it would indeed save a lot of trouble.

The Heavenly Soldiers of the Central Plains Dynasty like to conduct surprise raids when the herdsmen gather.From the Han Dynasty to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, I don't know how many generals relied on this trick to wipe out the leaders of the grassland. Pei Shang suggested that Marshal Shao also try it.

Shao Shude called Zhu Shuzong and Zhe Siyu to come.

"General Pei suggested to make a surprise attack during the Dajinze Festival of Worship. Zongben had [-] horses, followed by [-] horses, and we also had [-] horses. Pang Qing sent [-] horses, which is [-] horses. How do you two feel about four thousand cavalry raiding during the heaven sacrifice?" Shao Shude said in front of the two: "If it's feasible, then I will discuss the details with General Zhe later, and the two of you will straighten out the army. Get ready to attack. If it is not feasible, then give up the surprise attack and go with the brigade to defeat the enemy in battle."

"Marshal, what if the news has leaked out?" Zhu Shuzong asked.

"It's possible to leak it. Then we can only wait for the large group of infantry to arrive and defeat them. Then we will declare their sins and make them obey." Shao Shude replied.

"In this way, the general thinks that you can try it with cavalry. If the enemy is prepared, you will give up the strong attack and turn to harass to prevent them from fleeing quickly." Zhu Shuzong was still very steady. Horde, if news spreads and the raid becomes ineffective and turns into a strong attack, that would be unsightly.

Zhe Siyu is also a general idea.Even in his heart, the news has probably leaked out.There are only a few fixed routes in the grassland march, and there are tribes living on these routes.Unless you are a large group of cavalry from the beginning, one person with two horses or even three horses, with the idea of ​​​​sprinting quickly, otherwise you will definitely be noticed.

The Iron Forest Army is no more than a thousand riders, and its main force is still infantry, so it is impossible to do this.The Dijinze Festival of Worshiping Heaven will definitely not be held.The leaders of the various ministries don't have many entourages, maybe only a few hundred people. As the master, the Manu tribe can gather at most a few thousand soldiers.

On the contrary, this Manu tribe has its foundation in Dijinze, and it will not be able to escape for a while, unless it leaves its cattle, sheep, tents, and goods, and runs naked to Youzhou to seek refuge with Tuoba Sigong.

In fact, this battle can still be fought.As long as the big Tuoba lackey of Manubu is eliminated, people's hearts on the grassland will change, and this is an opportunity.

Shao Shude almost had the same idea.Since the dispatch of troops, although quite a few have been seized, overall they are still not very satisfied.Later Liao Xingzong attacked Xixia, and Xixia made strong walls and cleared the fields in advance. The Liao army was defeated as a whole, but the Northern Route Army still captured 20 cattle, [-] camels, and more than a million sheep.

This is called harvest!
The more than 30 cattle and sheep that I have obtained so far are nothing!If we don’t collect more than 10,000 cattle and sheep this time, can we call it to clear up the tax arrears over the years?Youzhou Town went to the Khitan people to hunt grass valleys, and if they were lucky, they could collect [-]+ cattle and sheep once.That's Khitan, not a party item that hasn't yet taken off!

Harvest cattle and sheep, subdue the grassland miscellaneous captives, and don't stop until the goal is achieved!

(End of this chapter)