Chinese New Year

Chapter 455 Someone is coming
The road from south to north in Luoyang has never been crowded, but this time many people came.

Yang Dan, the governor of the Wancheng shogunate, led a total of 5,000 soldiers north.

This number is the result of negotiation.

In theory, these soldiers were the farmhands of the noble families in Nanyang, Shunyang and Xinye. They were working in the fields and taking care of their own family affairs. But at the order of their master, they were still conscripted.

One family contributed 500 men, another family contributed 300 men, and finally they gathered about 5,000 soldiers and horses, took their weapons, pulled carts, and headed north.

It can be seen that these soldiers are a bit wild.

When passing by, they often disturb other people.

This was not intentional on Yang Dan's part. In fact, he enforced strict military discipline and executed some people, but it did not have an effective deterrent effect because everyone has a sense of luck and it was impossible for Yang Dan to execute everyone. In the end, didn't he just pick out a few unlucky guys and behead them for public display?
Of course, there is still a big difference between subjective constraints and no constraints.

But under the threat of beheading, the troops generally arrived at Guangchengze honestly. After pulling up a batch of supplies, they escorted Empress Hui Yang north to Luoyang.

This was not what Shao Xun meant. It was obvious that Yang Xianrong acted on her own initiative.

In mid-June, the army arrived outside Jingu Garden and trained together with the newly formed Zhongwu Army.

The Zhongwu Army has recovered to more than 3,000 people.

Like Yang Dan's troops, they were both farmers and soldiers, that is, they farmed in peacetime, trained in their spare time, and went into battle in times of war.

The cost of such soldiers is very low. The only expense is the food expenditure during training during the slack season, and the one-time expense of weapons.

Correspondingly, you can't expect this kind of troops to have much combat effectiveness.

The vast majority of the troops in the Shao military and political group are such troops. The only advantage is that they do not need to be maintained.

Compared with the troops under Yang Dan that have experienced more than ten battles, the newly formed Zhongwu Army is just an obedient group of people.

They were mainly composed of the guards of the Four Forts in Gancheng. Although they had been conscripted several times, they had no experience in war and were just honest farmers most of the time.

They were actually not very happy to be drafted into the Zhongwu Army as soldiers, after all, this army did not receive any money or food.

After several days of getting along, there were constant fights between the two sides, mostly with the Nanyang soldiers bullying the Yiyang soldiers of the Zhongwu Army. The fight came to an end only after Yang Dan sent people to arrest more than a dozen "active fighters."

What really brought the situation under control was Shao Xun's arrival on June 5th.

He arrived outside the Jingu Garden with 6,000 soldiers from the Silver Spear Right Camp.

The more than 2,000 soldiers from the 11th to 14th buildings had fought in the battlefield more than once, including the very intense Battle of Zhamati. When they stood in front of the Nanyang soldiers fully armed, the atmosphere suddenly became harmonious.

"Peng Zu, you've worked hard." Shao Xun withdrew his gaze from the carriage that was entering Jingu Garden and asked, "How is the situation in the south?"

"Du Tao can't accomplish anything." Yang Dan said, "The troops from Jing, Wan and Xiang will join forces to suppress the rebels. The rebels will be overwhelmed and will surely be defeated."

Shao Xun smiled and was too lazy to correct his exaggeration.

Liang Fen is the governor of Wancheng. He will not put too much effort into suppressing the rebellion in Jingxiang. They are just a small force.

After all, this battle still has to be fought by the local troops of Jingxiang.

However, their strength was greatly damaged in Wang Ru's Rebellion, and there are not many regular troops left. Now they rely entirely on the private soldiers of the wealthy families and the barbarian troops.

The private soldiers of the wealthy families were easy to deal with, but the barbarians were a bit perfunctory. They were like beads on an abacus, they moved when pushed, and they would not move if not pushed.

The situation is like this, and it is unknown when the chaos in Jingzhou can be settled.

Shao Xun was worried that if they continued like this, the emperor would mobilize troops from Xuchang and Jianye to join the suppression.

You have to know that Wang Dun has his troops stationed in Jiangzhou, eyeing the country covetously, and has a strong desire to march west.

As for Shao Xun, he was actually unwilling to send troops to fight in the Yangtze River Basin, because he did not want to be like Shi Le in history, who led 90,000 infantry and cavalry, half of whom died of illness in Jiangxia and Shouchun.

It is true that Shi Le was unlucky that time, as the epidemic spread quite severely, and normally there would not be so many deaths. But how can I put it? The environment in the Jianghan area is not as good as it is in later times. This place was not truly developed until the Southern Song Dynasty.

There are countless swamps, rivers, and lakes. It may be better in winter, but heavy rains in summer are disasters. It is really difficult for northern soldiers to adapt, and non-combat casualties are very serious.

It was winter when Shi Le was there, but half of the people died of illness. No one knows what disease they had. Did they drink raw water? Did they all have schistosomiasis? It is hard to know.

Even if he was ordered to go south to quell the rebellion, he would not lead the army in person, let alone send his elite troops. It would be a big deal if he could send out 10,000 or 20,000 soldiers to cultivate the land.

He didn't want to be distracted by what was happening in the south.

He had tried his best to deal with the Huns, but the Huns did not try their best to deal with him. So he could forget about anything else. He was lucky enough to find a way to retake Wancheng.

"Is Nanyang still stable?" Shao Xun asked again. A trace of cruelty appeared on Yang Dan's face, and he whispered: "Mingsir, Liang Fen has recruited surrendered soldiers and expanded his troops. There are 20,000 people, and it is difficult to control them."

"Twenty thousand what soldiers?" Shao Xun asked calmly.

"Heirloom soldiers." Yang Dan said, "He distributed land to refugees from Guanxi. He also distributed the land for the garrison troops that Ming Gong had originally set his sights on, right under the city of Wancheng. Some land in Nanyang was also seized and given to refugees from Guanzhong. There are also Di, Qiang and Hu people who are brave and aggressive. They don't work hard on farming, but instead cruise and hunt. These people only listen to Liang Fen's orders."

"Tianshui Yan Ding and others are Liang Fen's minions. They command the army for him and are arrogant for a while."

"Hearing that there was constant war in Guanzhong, many scholars, powerful people and even Hu leaders came to surrender. Liang Fen was determined to become the local tyrant of Wancheng, and he did not hesitate to offend the local powerful families for this."

"Even the Nanyang Kingdom has been disturbed?" Shao Xun was somewhat dissatisfied.

Yang Dan looked around, hesitated for a while, took out a letter from his arms, and handed it to Shao Xun reluctantly.

Shao Xun took it, looked at the seal first, then opened it and found that it was actually written by Princess Liu of Nanyang. He immediately glared at Yang Dan.

Yang Dan was really an incredible guy. He stared at Shao Xun with wide eyes to express his dissatisfaction.

Shao Xun smiled and didn't argue with him.

Some of the sons of the noble families still haven't come to their senses and think they are very powerful. In the eyes of people like Yang Dan, Shao Xun probably got his way by clinging to their family, which is totally unreasonable.

After Shao Xun finished reading the letter, he put it away and asked, "What do you think should be done about the situation in Nanyang?"

"Your Excellency may submit a petition to the court, requesting that you lead the army south to wipe out Du Tao's bandits. When passing by, capture Liang Fen. Those bandits in Guanxi can also be killed together. I think the nobles in various counties are willing to do this and will definitely send troops to respond to your Excellency." Yang Dan licked his lips and suggested.

Shao Xun sneered and said, "Peng Zu, fighting and killing will not accomplish anything. You have been leading troops for many years. If you can't even learn this, you should go home as soon as possible."

Yang Dan's eyes flashed with ferocity, but after a moment he slowly lowered his head and said, "Mingsong is right."

Liu Ling looked at him with a smile and moved his hand away from the hilt of the knife.

To deal with this kind of arrogant, cruel and tyrannical young man from an aristocratic family, don't play any tricks on him. It will be more effective to talk to him directly in a way he can understand.

Yang Dan is a ferocious beast, and currently only Shao Xun can subdue him.

After several years of fighting and battles, Shunyang Governor Yang Man was afraid that he could not completely control this man.

"This time when we enter Luoyang, you should camp outside Xin'an City, dig deep trenches and build high fortifications, and don't fight recklessly." Shao Xun said, "Just keep an eye on Wang Mi, and don't let him rush out to harass us from behind."

"Yes." Yang Dan lowered his head once and no longer had the energy to fight, so he answered in a muffled voice.

Shao Xun was too lazy to say more. He gave a few more reminders about military discipline and left.

He originally wanted Yang Dan to lead his army to the north city of Heyang to fight the Xiongnu. Now it seems that this army needs to be reorganized. Let him play with Wang Mi first to see the high-intensity war in the north, and don't think that after winning the battle in Jingxiang and Nanyang, he can continue to win in Henan and Hebei.

To put it bluntly, Wang Miruo led his army out of the city to fight Yang Dan in the field, and the outcome is still unknown.

They have fought many battles!

After the meeting, Shao Xun hesitated for a moment and returned to Jingu Garden.

Nearly a hundred families from Guangchengze were settled in the garden. They were managed by Yang Xianrong's men and chose some houses in Jingu Garden that had not completely collapsed and settled down temporarily.

These people were specially requested by Shao Xun. They had rich experience in growing forage and raising livestock, and could teach others in Luoyang and promote the technology.

Yes, Shao Xun intends to speed up the pace of horse breeding.

But he didn't want to herd animals, which was too inefficient. He wanted to adopt intensive agricultural production methods, that is, to grow grass on the best farmland and harvest more feed for the horses.

The people in the Central Plains are not used to treating forage grass as a serious crop. He now wants to break their inherent cognition and let them know that forage grass can be planted like grain, can be managed in the field like millet and wheat, and the yield can be increased through various means. It is more efficient than simple grazing and occupies less land.

These people, who have rich experience in forage cultivation, are a very valuable resource.

They know how to match the types of forage to plant, how to manage the fields, how to select and save seeds, how to feed livestock best, and how to maintain the fertility of the land after the forage is harvested...

This is the result of long-term accumulation.

Without the consistent efforts over the past few years, there would be no such professionals.

And the woman who brought all this about was now standing in the pavilion, looking at him with a sneer and an expression of being furious.

Shao Xun lowered his head slightly.

He forced himself to recall every moment he had spent with Yang Xianrong over the past few years, and tried his best to think of her good qualities. Then he raised his head, showing an expression that was a mixture of guilt, pity, and longing, and walked over with a smile.

(End of this chapter)