Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 222 Behind the scenes and the secret messenger

"Marshal, the construction of the west city has started, and everything is going well." In Lingzhou City, Chen Cheng handed over a military report: "If you can reserve one hundred thousand hu of military rations, then the South Road will be safe."

Xishi City was originally small, and it was severely damaged after wind and rain.No one has high expectations for how far this reconstruction can go.Just like the Tubo people want to rebuild the city wall of Lanzhou, how is that possible?The hastily built city wall is of extremely poor quality and lacks a lot of things, so it can't stop the army from attacking.

Xishi City is now being repaired hastily, and part of the city wall is expanded with wood on both sides. It exists as a temporary warehouse city, which is barely enough during the war.

"After the walled city is repaired, it will be named Dingxi." Shao Shude looked down at the accounts and said casually.

"Of order." Chen Cheng felt that the name was just right, and at the same time he began to imagine, where is he going to be in the west?River state?Shanzhou?or all?

Comfortable!Shao Shude looked at the accounts with an excited expression. Guangqi Yuan Nianling and Yan Erzhou were exempted from taxes, and they began to pay taxes in the second year.Last year, the eight counties of Lingzhou contributed 757351 dendrobium land taxes, and the two counties of Yanzhou contributed 84147 dendrobium land taxes.In terms of household tax, Lingzhou contributed more than 83200 pieces of silk and 16262 pieces of money.

comfortable!One state contributes more than one-third of the town's land tax and one-quarter of the household tax. This Lingzhou is really worth it!Moreover, this figure is based on the fact that most of the Guanzhong immigrants have not yet had time to farm.This spring sowing is already busy, and this year's Lingzhou is even more worth looking forward to!

In fact, those new Guanzhong households originally wanted to exempt them from tax for two years, but Shao Dashuai calculated his family fortune, so he could only sigh and dare not!

In the second county of Huizhou, the population of Guangqi increased greatly in the second year, from 1200 households with an average population of 5.7 when the lost land was recovered to 6200 households with an average population of 3.1.The main reason is that a large number of nesters have settled down under the policy of immigrating to the real border, with a total of [-] households, most of which are sparsely populated, and some even have only one member.

Shao Shude once promised them that starting from the second year of Guangqi, they will be exempted from tax for ten years.In addition, because of the Western Expedition, the local people in Huizhou also acted as masters, provided money and food, and also reduced or exempted taxes appropriately.Therefore, in the next nine years, it would be better for Huizhou to forget about it. The Han people would hardly contribute any property unless Marshal Shao took the initiative to break the promise—of course, this is impossible.

The territories of the Zhenwu Army and the Tiande Army have just begun to be consolidated, and this year they will be exempted from taxation (only for Han citizens).Among them, the three counties of Linzhou are temporarily allowed to support themselves, which is equivalent to the small town of Zhejia.

Lingzhou, only Lingzhou, is now the largest source of wealth in the 34 counties of the ten prefectures of the Dingnan Army, no matter how important it is, it cannot be overstated!

"Marshal, the First Unit of the Yi Cong Army has arrived at Huining Pass." Chen Cheng reminded softly.

"Well, there are three thousand nests of prisoners this year, all of whom will be assigned to Weizhou." Shao Shude flipped through the ledger and said to himself.

Chen Cheng was speechless. He co-authored the Marshal and was immersed in finances, so he didn't hear what he said at all.

But why Weizhou instead of Lanzhou?Have plans changed?Chen Cheng started brainstorming again.

"Let's go, stop thinking about it." Shao Shude handed the ledger to Kong Muguan, laughed, and said, "Go to the pier to have a look."

Near the pier is the shipbuilding workshop, and Li Shao has been waiting here for a long time.

"Shuai Li." Shao Shude cupped his hands in salute.

"Don't worry about this old man, Commander, just call him Li Shijun." Li Shao waved his hand quickly.

"Then it's called Li Pushe." Shao Shude said with a smile.

This is the honorary title given to Li Shao by the imperial court, and calling him this just avoids embarrassment.

"The commander-in-chief is here to see the boat?"

"Of course. The most important thing in marching and fighting is nothing more than food and grass." Shao Shude said: "The Tubo thieves are all waiting to attack my grain road. Let them see whether they ran out of food and grass first, or me. The army of the army will run out of food and grass first."

In ancient times, in wars, it is not known how many soldiers retreated because of the lack of food.Sometimes after winning a battle on the battlefield, the food is exhausted and it is impossible to expand the results of the battle.Sometimes it is even worse, when the food is exhausted, the army is defeated, and the entire army is wiped out.

When a famous general uses troops, the first consideration is to cut off the opponent's food supply.Today, more than 4 people are used to fight against Tubo. If you don't count the Yinshan tribe, it will consume more than [-] hu of grain a month, which is much higher than when the soldiers were in the camp.

Of course, the Dingnan army has never fought for food alone.In fact, before winning Lingzhou, there was a long-term shortage of grain in the town, and most of the army had milk and dried meat to make up for it. After all, the tribute from the Tibetan tribe can only give you cattle and sheep, and most of them do not farm.

In the second year, Guangqi received 207.8 million dendrobium grains and beans, and the Yajun and the ministries that enjoyed the treatment of the Yajun army gave out a little over 115 million dendrobium in one year.The daily consumption of sergeants is also very astonishing. Counting the beans fed to horses and draft animals, they consume more than 46 hu a year.After deducting more than 12.1 yuan in pensions, the balance was more than 30 yuan.

This is just the balance of raising the army, and part of the salaries of officials and craftsmen have to be paid with food.There are also various construction expenses, and they are also paid for. In fact, there will not be much left in the end.

Fortunately, there are hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep, medicinal materials, leather and other miscellaneous goods contributed by the Fanbu. In addition to the rewards, there are still a lot left.But people can't just eat meat without eating grains. Before the battle, the shogunate exchanged a lot of grains from the soldiers with cattle and sheep, because they couldn't finish them.

For the Western Expedition to Tibet, Marshal Shao only prepared about six or seven months of grain, beans, and preserved milk. If he couldn't finish it within half a year, he would have to pay in advance for next year's taxes. Fortunately, the autumn grain had already been harvested for about a month.

War is really a social activity that consumes a lot, especially when you use more than [-] people.

"A tank boat with five crew members transported 1500 dendrobium grains a trip. There are now sixty ships, right?" Shao Shude asked, looking at the forest-like masts on the pier.

"58 ships, and there are 2 ships that have not been completely completed." Li Shao replied: "The dry wood that has been accumulated for many years in Lingzhou Shipyard has been swept away, and the subsequent ships will be built directly after felling according to the command of the commander-in-chief. According to Ma Dajiang, such a ship has a limited lifespan.”

Last year, the shipbuilding workshops in Lingzhou and Huaiyuan counties were very busy.Even in the depths of winter they were cutting wooden ships to provide security for the great war this spring.

You lack a wood drying kiln!Shao Shude thought.

It takes several years to dry ship materials in the shade, which is too slow.However, if a complete plan is established, it is not a problem to harvest large logs every year and store them in the shade after processing.It's just that I want to fight, and I can't help it if I catch up.

Transporting grain, ordnance, charcoal, cattle and sheep, building materials, and all kinds of messy things, the pressure is too great!If it is all by land transportation, the cost is not so high?Mobilize more than [-] wives?Then agricultural production will be abandoned.

At this time, the Lingzhou Wharf was busy, and the masters carried the grain bags, transported the grain bags into the cabin, and stacked them.

After the river thawed in March, a large number of ships were pushed into the dock one by one, anchored, and waited to load supplies.

On the other side of the river, there are two wharfs loading goods.

Dongcang City in Lingzhou was built on a high ground on the east bank of the river, facing Lingzhou City across the river.On the west bank of the river, there is also Xicang City, which also faces Lingzhou across the river—yes, Lingzhou City is built on the river, which is very painful.

The three terminals ship goods together, and the speed is quite fast.

"Dangdang..." The bell rang on the pier, and a ship loaded with grain, beans and fodder drew anchor and set sail.

This will still blow the north wind. If the wind direction is unfavorable, it will be very difficult to mobilize the master to pull the fiber, but it is still cheaper than land transportation.

War is also a complex and sophisticated social activity.

Some people only see the fighting and killing on the battlefield, the heroes are full of heroes, and they are full of arrogance.But few people have delved into what kind of system, what kind of people, and what kind of things are supporting these heroes to "pretend".

How is your financial situation?How is your logistics transportation system?How about your ordnance manufacturing ability?How is your publicity system?How is your folk mood?Can you support you to "pretend" to this extent?

How can war be fought without all this complicated, hard, and tedious behind-the-scenes work?If the work behind the scenes is not good, the combat effectiveness on the front line cannot be guaranteed, and the heroes can only be short of breath and call for help.

The north wind gradually picked up, and Shao Shude was in a good mood: "The wind is blowing and the clouds are flying, let's go, the sons of the Iron Forest Army should be dispatched!"

On March 9000th of the third year of Guangqi, Shao Shude personally led [-] soldiers from the Iron Forest Army, Iron Cavalry Army, Leopard Cavalry Capital, and Tiande Army to the south, along the post road on the west bank of the Yellow River, and arrived in Wuzhou on the second day of April. Lan County.

At this time, 7000 Yicong troops were stationed at Wulanguan, [-] Wuwei troops were stationed at Xinquanjuncheng, and [-] Tiande troops went out to Xiazhai twenty miles southwest of Ulan County.

On the third day of April, all the armies on the Southeast Road commanded Yang Yue's messenger to deliver urgent mail across the river, and Tubo in Minzhou and Weizhou prefectures joined forces to gather troops and seemed to be attacking Xizhai.

"Oh, it's good to lure them out. Otherwise, search the mountains and destroy the villages, when will they be wiped out!" Shao Shude put down the military report, shouted at Li Renfu, and said, "Bring the secret envoy from Lanzhou here."

"I have met the King of Lingwu County." A young man walked in and saluted respectfully.

"You are Qin Han, the son of Qin Gui?" Shao Shude asked.

"Exactly."

"Please sit down and serve tea." Shao Shude ordered.

"Xie Lingwu County King." Qin Han saluted again, and said, "My honor sent someone here to introduce some guides to the King."

"Is it those boatmen?"

"Exactly." Qin Han replied: "From Lanzhou to Huining Pass, the water is fast-moving and there are many shoals and reefs, making navigation difficult. These people used to travel between Huizhou and do business on the water."

"The Tubo people also do business?"

"The king of Lingwu County is joking, even the barbarians in that mountain also do business, and of course the Tubo people do."

"How dangerous is this channel?"

"Xiangshui and Sangyuan Gorges have steep rock walls and difficult tow paths. If the wind direction is unfavorable, it is impossible to pull fibers. Even if the wind direction is favorable, there are torrents and dangerous shoals in the river, making it difficult to control. In the eighth year of Tianbao, there was a great famine in Guanzhong. Grains from Lanzhou, Shanzhou and other places entered the Guanzhong. It was very difficult to go down the river, and many ships were damaged. If you go up the river, it will be even more difficult. I hope the king will check it out." Qin Han said.

From the end of the Ming Dynasty, China entered into a small glacier climate, and reached the lowest temperature in the late years of Kangxi, and then slowly recovered, and gradually got rid of it until the late Qing Dynasty.During this period, there is less precipitation and the Yellow River is not abundant.From the Lanzhou section down to Zhongwei, there is a saying that there are four gorges and one beach, that is, the four canyons of Heishan, Hongshan, Sangyuan, and Xiangshui, and a shoal of Dalanggou. You must concentrate, if you are not careful, the ship will be destroyed.

At this time, at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the temperature began to drop slowly, and reached a low point in the middle of the Five Dynasties.But this low point lasted for a short period of time, which was completely different from that of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and it quickly recovered in the early Song Dynasty.

Of course, in the Song Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, the temperature was much lower than that in the late Tang Dynasty, and it was slightly higher than that in the Five Dynasties. This can be seen from the fact that the grain harvest in the Song Dynasty was a full month later than that in the Tang Dynasty.

The amount of water in the Yellow River at this time is much more abundant than that in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.The Heishanxia and Dalanggou passages of later generations are not so dangerous at this time, as you can see from the position of the Huiningguan ferry.But going up to Lanzhou, there is indeed a more troublesome flight segment.

"Is it very likely that the ship will be destroyed?" Shao Shude asked after pondering for a while.

"How many ships can Your Majesty afford to destroy?" Qin Han asked.

Wow, this question stuck with me.

Xuanzong can afford to destroy the ship, but I can't bear it.With just such a small amount of food, it hurts to lose one.

"If you stretch the fiber, can you avoid the rapids?"

"It's difficult, but you can try it. However, the Sangyuan and Xiangshui Gorges cannot open up towpaths."

"Young man can teach me." Shao Shude said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, you can build a ship in Huizhou, just a small boat. When you sail to the vicinity of the Sangyuan and Xiangshui Gorges, you will dock. This is not far from Lanzhou. The section from Huining Pass to Huizhou can be transshipped by land."

very troublesome!Shao Shude sighed, he didn't dare to take risks, so he could only sail in sections, and when he encountered dangerous places, he would go by land and then go by boat.

But that's not bad.From Lingzhou to Huiningguan, it saves hundreds of miles of land transportation costs.It can also save a considerable amount of road later, which is still worthwhile overall.

It is to recruit teachers in Huizhou again, but the local people's strength is already quite tense, and I am afraid it is insufficient.The master who followed from Lingzhou originally wanted to send them back, but now it seems that it is impossible.This year's agricultural harvest in Lingzhou will be affected, pit!

"Let's do this! The snow mountain has been felled for more than half a year. Let them stop weaving rafts downstream and do their best to protect the military supplies." Shao Shude said: "After the army received food, grass and equipment at Wulan Pass, they continued to set off. I don't want to wait any longer."

"Obey." Li Renfu immediately sent someone to deliver the order.

"Let's talk about the inside story of Lanzhou Tubo." Shao Shude said: "Someone found out from a Hu merchant that there are more than [-] soldiers in Lanzhou Tubo. Is it true?"

"6000 is not enough, [-] people can still be recruited. If we count the four tribes of our Han people, it is barely close to [-]." Qin Han replied.

There was not much difference between what Kang Fujin said, Shao Shude felt relieved.

On his way, there were a total of 3 troops, of which nearly half were soldiers.If he fought head-on, he was confident of defeating the same number of Tubo, not to mention that his army was less than [-].

This battle is settled!

(End of this chapter)