Chinese New Year

Chapter 531 Military Town (Part )

The so-called military town is actually an institution that manages both the military and the people, and is generally located in border areas.

During periods of frequent war, whether in border areas or inland key points, if there are garrisons, the garrison commanders are generally given powers that are difficult to obtain under normal circumstances: the power to control both military and political affairs.

The advantage of combining military and political control is that it can reduce disputes and internal friction, and respond to wars at a faster speed. After all, the situation on the battlefield is ever-changing. Once the reaction is slow, at best the opportunity to fight is missed, and at worst the army is destroyed and people die.

The disadvantages are also obvious. The military town will be run as an independent kingdom.

The original five tribes of the Xiongnu were actually oversized military towns. Each of the five tribes had its own garrison and chief, and the title was hereditary.

In times of peace, they farm on the plains and graze on the mountains; in times of war, they go to fight - and they don't necessarily get paid.

The court of the Later Han Dynasty had very few regular troops. Therefore, compared with the Former Han Dynasty, they relied more on vassal Hu tribes to fight, often recruiting them for free or hiring them out for money. The Southern Xiongnu were the most hired, followed by the Wuhuan.

Shao Xun's purpose in establishing the military town was deeper. He wanted to incorporate the beggars' army and the Hu tribes who came to seek refuge into the system.

The Qihuo Army is a very special existence. Since Sima Teng brought them to Jizhou, they quickly took root, absorbing refugees from Bing, You and Ji states and even tribal refugees, forming a complex collective.

They now have basically nothing to do with Bingzhou, but are instead local forces in Jizhou. They tend to stick together and are relatively xenophobic.

The best way is actually to register these people as ordinary citizens, but this is not possible now and it might force them to rebel, so we should give them the status of a vassal force: a military town.

The same applies to the Hu tribes.

Since the Later Han Dynasty moved the Xiongnu into the country, there has never been a thorough registration of the people. At most, a household registration was checked to find out how many people there were.

The so-called household registration of all people means setting up government offices at all levels in the local area so that ordinary herdsmen will obey the orders of the government rather than the orders of the tribal leaders. This is the most core part.

Once all citizens are truly registered, that is a force that the government can directly mobilize.

After Li Tang conquered Goguryeo, he moved a large number of people to Huainan to settle down, registered them as citizens, and later gradually integrated into the Tang people and never rebelled again.

They captured and recruited Tibetan and Hu people in the northwest, and then exiled them to Wuyue. They used basically the same method and the effect was very good.

But the same was not true for the Turks who migrated to Huaixi and Nanyang. They were not registered as ordinary people and they still followed the tribal chief system. They even did not change their lifestyle. They still grazed, hunted, and occasionally planted some crops, which was "nomadic farming" rather than "fixed farming."

This kind of person is a troublemaker. Over time, the local Han people were also influenced by the Hu customs and riding horses to hunt, rob and kill people on the road, and rebel and establish their own regimes as commonplace. Finally, the famous "Cai thieves" were born - they usually farmed and robbed in their spare time. The farthest one went from Nanyang to Jiangxi and Hunan to rob, and then went home to farm after robbing.

Military towns were considered to be "half" registered citizens, because complete registration of citizens was unrealistic and would likely lead them to defect to the Huns and become the enemy's force to attack them.

What we need to do now is united front work, that is, to unite as many people as possible to resist the Huns' attack.

If one of the miscellaneous Hu tribes, the beggar army and other organizations from Jizhou surrendered, the Xiongnu would lose a point of strength. The difference between the in and out is actually very big.

Military garrison chiefs were allowed to be hereditary or elected internally, and the imperial court would only review and issue a letter of appointment.

Officials and civilians in a military town who have made meritorious services can leave the town and be promoted to serve as officials in other places.

Although this may seem unremarkable, it actually represents the imperial court competing for influence with tribal chiefs and beggars, because the middle and lower classes now have another path: to be rewarded for meritorious service, to be promoted and leave, instead of having their life and death, wealth and status all decided by the chief's words.

This is the power of the system.

Of course, the hereditary system of military chiefs also protected the interests of the chieftains. It could even be said that it consolidated the interests of their families through official endorsement. After all, there were rebellions in the tribe.

The biggest problem facing grassland tribes is the poor succession of successors, which often leads to bloodshed and heavy casualties.

Now, without the imperial commission, he is not a real leader and his position is unstable. He can even raise an army to attack and unite with other tribes/military towns to attack together.

The tribal leader is not a fool. Compared with the interests of the entire tribe, family interests are also important - the tribe is no longer my family, why should I worry about it or rebel?

Therefore, the military garrison system was beneficial to both them and the imperial court, and they hit it off immediately.

After Yu Chen finished his introduction, everyone fell into deep thought.

Liu Hezhu and Liu Da looked at each other and both understood the mystery.

The town commander is hereditary and is in charge of both the army and the people, which is to protect the interests of their Liu family.

Of course, if the imperial court helps your family consolidate its position and allows your family to inherit the title of military commander and become wealthy for generations, you still have to take on obligations, which is to fight for the imperial court.

This is no longer a simple relationship of paying someone and calling it a day. It is more complicated and has several more layers of constraints.

The characteristics of dependence or submission are more obvious, because all the civil and military officers below the garrison commander are formal court officials. Although they are signed by the garrison commander himself, those at higher levels also need the approval of the court. Although most of the time it is just a formality, but - what if the court has any ideas?

Liu felt that Shao Xun was very close to her, and their bodies were almost pressed against each other, but she had no time to care about such things.

She subconsciously turned her head to look at Shao Xun. What kind of brain does this guy have? How did he come up with this idea?
It's a bit like taming wild animals, putting them into cages little by little, and there's meat in the cage, so the wild animals go in willingly.

She thought of Shi Le again.

Da Hu had only two methods to deal with these chiefs: marriage or rewards.

In fact, it’s not that we haven’t thought about incorporating them into the system, but the country has not yet been established and the foundation is not stable, so it is difficult to implement.

She had thought about similar things before, but none of them were as systematic, formal, and organized as Shao Xun's.

For a moment, she thought a lot.

After Liu Hezhu finished his whispered conversation with his son, he looked at Mr. Chen.

Ye Na seemed to have been watching Chen Gong for a long time. Haha, he knew that for such an ambitious woman, a man with outstanding personal martial arts, repeated victories in military battles, and mature political skills has a fatal attraction.

Liu Ye didn't love Shi Le or Shao Xun, she only loved power.

"Today is not the main discussion, and you don't need to express your opinions right now. You can go back and gather the leaders to discuss it." Shao Xun's voice sounded.

"As ordered."

"Go and prepare for the military meeting. I'll be there shortly." Shao Xun waved his hand and said, "Everyone from the Liu family, please stay."

Everyone stood up and saluted, heading to the next hall to prepare for the meeting. There were dozens of shogunate officials, as well as scholars from various counties and commanders of forts who had been waiting for a long time.

After they all left, Shao Xun glanced at Liu and said with a half-smile, "Liu Runzhong has a big appetite. He wants to be the hereditary governor of Shangdang, but the Xiongnu didn't give him the power."

Liu's breath was choked. Liu Runzhong was her elder brother, who lived in Shangdang and led his people.

Liu Hezhu and his son Liu Hedu originally lived in Shangdang, but now they have moved to Daluze.

Liu Bo and his son Liu Da also lived in Shangdang.

Liu's father Liu Zheng, Liu Hezhu and Liu Bo were the three brothers. Liu Hezhu was the oldest, Liu Zheng was the second oldest, and Liu Bo was the youngest.

Liu Zheng had died, and Liu Runzhong took over the tribe, which had more than 4,000 people.

Liu Hezhu had an army of five thousand men.

Liu Bo had an army of three thousand men.

These three brothers were considered the most powerful group among the former Shangdang Jie people. If they were to recruit as many men as possible, they could send out more than 10,000 cavalrymen.

At the peak of his career, Shi Le was able to muster more than 30,000 cavalrymen. In addition to the miscellaneous Hu people he recruited, there were no less than 10,000 Shangdang Jie people who responded to his call, among which the three tribes of the Liu family were the main force.

Liu Hezhu just told Liu that they were close relatives and her helpers, and this was not a lie.

After being in Yecheng for so long, he had figured out that Shao Xun had a maximum of 6,000 cavalrymen, who had spent a long time in Heyang, Fangtou and other places, and had fought many fierce battles this time, so he now had only a little over 4,000 cavalrymen.

The Liu family can provide more than 10,000 cavalrymen, and can also influence other Jie and Wuhuan tribes. All men over the age of 15 can be recruited, and equipped with weapons and war horses. It will be no problem to provide 20,000 cavalrymen.

It doesn't matter who you're doing the work for. Why be so stubborn?

If Shao Xun had a strong prejudice against the Hu people, he would have killed them and fought with him. But the problem is that now it seems that he has no prejudice, or not too much prejudice. As long as they are obedient, follow orders, don't make trouble, and fight for him, he treats everyone equally.

Who can predict what will happen in the future? Shao Xun is in such a good momentum and is so short of cavalry. This is their chance!
Although Liu Han's momentum is very strong, he has no shortage of cavalry.

It goes without saying which side will bring greater benefits.

"Forget it, I will allow him to take the position of Shangdang prefect." Shao Xun's voice came again.

Liu was a little surprised.

Liu Hezhu was also a little surprised.

Shao Xun secretly sneered, "It's not my territory, so what if I give it to him? If I haggle with him now and he doesn't invest, wouldn't that be a loss of the greater for the smaller?"

These barbarians have no integrity and only care about silver. They will follow whoever offers the highest price.

The original policies of the Jin Dynasty court had big problems. They never looked at them in the eye, nor did they bother to win them over. They often conscripted people to fight in wars without paying them wages, and even captured their people as slaves, which made the Xiongnu, Jie people, and Wuhuan people full of resentment.

The current situation is closely related to their long-term inaction and misconduct.

Shao Xun treated them as equal forces, trying to win them over, giving them benefits, and offering them official positions. There were not many high-ranking officials in the Jin Dynasty who had this attitude.

The hereditary position of Shangdang prefect is a small matter, just agree to it first.

"My lord, you are so generous..." Liu Hezhu was a little jealous of his nephew's good luck.

"Mr. Liu, there is no need to sigh. As long as you have made contributions, you should be rewarded. Lu Ze is a commander of a town and a fourth-rank commander. If he manages it well, he will be no worse than a prefect." Shao Xun said.

Liu Hezhu stood up and bowed, saying, "If you summon me someday, I will not dare to refuse."

"You will have your part to play, it will be done soon." Shao Xun nodded with a smile.

Hou Feihu led his army northward and easily captured Handan. The wealthy families from Wuan, Quliang and other places came to surrender.

The further north they went, the greater their momentum became, and now their total force exceeded 15,000.

On the way to the march, they even intercepted several of Shi Le's troops.

They were originally at home harvesting in autumn, but after receiving the order, they rushed to Handan, Xiangguo and other places to assemble. On the way, they were intercepted by Hou Feihu and simply surrendered. They were then forced to go north and head straight to Xiangguo.

The Qihuo Army marched 20,000 men from east to west and had already recaptured Julu. The vanguard was not far from Xiangguo.

According to the torture of prisoners, Shi Le had only recruited a few thousand soldiers so far. When the army besieged the city, he had at most 10,000 people, and their fighting effectiveness was uneven.

Can Xiangguo really stand firm?
When besieging Shi Le, Shao Xun did not even send his main force because it was not worth it.

What he was really prepared for was the large group of Huns that might attack at any time.

Thinking of this, he felt a little melancholy. When could he leave Hebei? Don't fight one battle after another, and you can't leave.

"Let's go to the military meeting first." Shao Xun said.

Liu Hezhu and others bowed and left.

Shao Xun hugged Liu and found that her originally soft waist suddenly became stiff.

Wow, such strong waist and hip power, really top-notch.

He stroked Liu's face with his hand and asked softly, "Your uncle and cousin have surrendered to me, and your brother is also making conditions to me. What are you going to do?"

Liu's eyes were confused for a moment, but soon they became clear again. She reached out and slapped Shao Xun's hand away, staring at him with amber eyes, extremely angry.

"You are such a wild little cat." Shao Xun released his hand from her waist, laughed, and said, "Yena, what do you want? Who can help you achieve it?"

After that, he didn't force her, but walked away with a smile. Before leaving, he turned his head to look at her and said, "Write a letter to Liu Runzhong when you have time. It will be very different if you apply this year, next year, or three to five years later."

He now has only 4,000 cavalry. If you bring a few thousand cavalry to surrender, you will be treated as a guest of honor.

But if he already has 10,000 or 20,000 cavalry, the effect will not be that good if you bring a few thousand more cavalry to join him.

If Liu Runzhong was a smart man, he should be able to see it.

The few cavalry he had were of no value to the Huns.

When doing business, the purpose is to sell at a good price.

(End of this chapter)