Tang's dining table

Yunchu camped in Chenggao at night.

Pei Xingjian's front army and the emperor's central army had already left. After they left, they left Yunchu with a devastated Chenggao County.

There are no weird things like granaries being burned down or food being covered in feces and urine.

However, when the emperor left, he took away all the grain stored in the Chenggao County granary.

It was necessary for the emperor to do something to prepare for a rainy day, but Yunchu's rear army was unlucky.

Facing the Chenggao local officials who were kowtowing like garlic, Yunchu did not choose Pei Xingjian's method of asking for food. He felt that it was a very immoral thing to always snatch food from the people at the bottom.

So, he chose to go to the wealthy households in Chenggao County and sent a thousand troops to collect food all night. By daybreak, Yunchu's army had a lot more food, but it was not as neat as the military food. Lots of pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks and geese.

Yun Chu not only took the food from the wealthy households in vain, but also wrote them very standardized IOUs. In the future, the wealthy households could take these IOUs to the Luoyang Military Department and exchange them for money.

It sounds like this thing was done from beginning to end, which seems very good. However, no one, including Yun Chu, thinks that these wealthy households can get food money after going to the Luoyang Ministry of War.

The grain in Li Si's hands is the private property of others and cannot be touched. As for whether the grain of the wealthy households is private property, it depends on the emperor's perception.

Looting places and forcibly collecting military rations was actually a very inconspicuous daily behavior for the Tang army.

As the most important violent group in the Tang Dynasty, Yunchu's behavior of giving out IOUs would make others laugh.

This is because the army is walking in the country and will not go too far. Once they leave the border, wherever the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty go, there will be a situation where there will be no grass.

The reason why it is so unreasonable is that the treatment of the soldiers is rarely implemented.

When each soldier was recruited, he was required to prepare a bow, thirty arrows, a horizontal sword, a felt hat and a felt outfit, as well as nine measures of wheat.

These materials are kept by Zhechong Mansion, and the government issues vouchers, which can be exchanged in the event of war. If the government troops defend for more than one year, the government will provide additional subsidies.

This method of supplying the army has saved the country a lot of money.

Logically speaking, if a Tang Dynasty soldier served for more than one year, he would be able to obtain twelve pieces of silk and twelve stones of chestnuts for each additional year.

Of course, logically speaking, these three words are very interesting. As long as they are logically speaking, they basically mean nothing.

There are 600,000 regular soldiers in the Tang Dynasty. Except for the local soldiers in Chang'an, this is not the case. Every soldier who extends his service time can get the full amount of compensation that is reasonable.

There are only 30,000 Beiya Imperial Guards left who can get military pay.

The Beiya Imperial Guards were the emperor's personal soldiers and an independent military force. Their basic living needs are provided by the imperial court, and they enjoy benefits such as food, food, and clothing.

It stands to reason that the more things are said, the more military discipline will deteriorate and the army's style will become more barbaric.

Of course, Yunchu would not harm Li Si's interests to make up for the collapse of the military system.

Coupled with the emperor's eastward tour, the original strategy was to be tough and arrogant. Only in this way can everyone know the majesty of the emperor.

Starting from the great ancestor Li Yuan, it was a common practice that wherever the emperor went, the most elite troops of the Tang Dynasty would be there.

If Yunchu behaved in a friendly manner and treated everyone well in the local area, when he got to the emperor, it would be Yunchu himself who was in trouble.

Qiu Wuwu committed such a thing, which does not apply to the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty.

When Yunchu's army left Chenggao County, the rich people were crying and crying along the way. The army commander wanted to send someone to scare them and tell them to shut up.

Yunchu understood the pain of these people very well.

It is the wealth accumulated by many generations, and now it is plundered by the army. It is normal to cry.

Bandits are like combs, soldiers are like grates. This saying itself appeared in the Tang Dynasty.

After Ruichun reported Yunchu's behavior in Chenggao to Li Zhi, although the people were hurt and suffered, they still fully understood Yunchu's looting behavior.

The general trend is ahead, and the rest are just flaws.

However, the accusations against Yun Chu for setting up an army and plundering were not broken. Every censor knew that this was Yun Chu's helpless move, but no one was willing to let go of this good opportunity to impeach Yun Chu.

As soon as he went out, everything went wrong. The emperor's car stopped in Zhengzhou.

The emperor's carriage stopped at Zhengzhou, and Yunchu's rear army had to stop at Xingyang.

The main body of Xingyang is actually Hulao Pass. After Yunchu's troops entered Hulao Pass, they followed the advice of the marching commander Shi Li Ji and sealed the entire Hulao Pass.

Hulao Pass is now called Wulao Pass. The reason why it changed its name is related to Li Zhi’s ancestor Li Hu.

In Yunchu's eyes, the Wulao Pass was not tall and the rammed earth walls were not strong. However, Li Ji stood at Wulao Pass and seemed to have countless things on his mind that he wanted to say but could not express.

When Li Si appeared behind Li Ji, without asking, he heard Li Ji talking to himself: "Back then, Emperor Gaozu couldn't trust Emperor Taizong, so he took Emperor Taizong's subordinates and handed them over to Pei Ji to fight against Liu Wuzhou. As a result, the entire army was wiped out, and only Pei Ji was left. One person had to escape, leaving Emperor Taizong with no more soldiers to fight. Even the land east of Hedong was lost, including Jinyang, the land of Longxing in the Tang Dynasty.

At that time, Dou Jiande from Hebei Province marched westward, preparing to join forces with Wang Shichong to destroy the Tang Dynasty in one fell swoop. "

Li Si said softly: "Who was under the command of Duke Ying at that time?"

Li Jidao said: "Wang Shichong served as a junior general. A certain family was originally a hero in Wagangzhai. After Wang Shichong defeated Li Mi, I became Wang Shichong's man. At that time, I thought Wang Shichong was a man of destiny. Who would have thought that Wang Shichong was powerful and wealthy at that time?" It was at Hulao Pass that Wang Shichong accomplished your grandfather's unparalleled feat of capturing two kings in one battle."

Li Si smiled and said, "Did the Ying Gong surrender at that time?"

Li Ji gritted his teeth and said: "At that time, your grandfather had less than 30,000 soldiers and horses, and they were all scrapped together. Facing the fortified city of Hulao Pass, he conquered Hulao Pass for six days without damaging Hulao Pass.

It can be said that the right time and place are not with him. As for Renhe, we only need to know that when Yuchi Jingde marched into Hulao Pass, the local people avoided him one after another and were unwilling to provide military rations for the army. "

Li Si hugged Li Ji's arm and said, "But grandpa still won."

A strong look of nostalgia appeared on Li Ji's face, and he praised: "Your great ancestor deliberately deprived your grandfather of his military power, and even killed Liu Wenjing, who claimed to be able to "avoid death", just to cut off your grandfather's wings.

The two elite troops in Guanzhong and Hedong were buried in Hedong by Pei Ji. They only had 30,000 ragtag troops in their hands, but they had to face Dou Jiande's 100,000 troops, backed by Wang Shichong's 80,000 elite troops.

Girl, when the right time, place, and people are not in your hands, if it were you, how would you make a comeback? "

Li Si chuckled, and then said proudly: "Baiqi attacks!"

Li Ji smiled and said: "Yes, Baiqi attacked. This is what Emperor Taizong did. The strange thing is that he won."

Li Si looked up at the tall Li Ji and said, "Is it weird to win?"

Li Ji nodded and said: "Yes, it's strange. Taizong succeeded once, and it was only successful once, and it can never happen again in the future."

"Can't you either?"

"No, I have wanted to succeed countless times throughout my military life, but unfortunately, I have never been able to achieve my wish.

Li Si didn't understand what Li Ji said, but she felt that what Li Ji said seemed very important. It didn't matter. Just remember it first and just go back and ask the master.

Li Ji looked very lonely. Standing on the top of Hulao Pass, he seemed to be remembering the past stormy years. When he stopped talking, the Hulao Pass seemed to belong to him alone.

After listening to Li Si's narration, Yun Chu pondered for a moment and then said to Li Si: "When the old man gets old, he starts to think about destiny."

Li Sidao: "What is destiny?"

"Destiny" means the will represented by God and the entity of nature. It also refers to God's control over the fate of all living beings, the laws and laws of nature, and the natural life span of human beings.

Combined with what Ying Gong told about Emperor Taizong's past, you can understand that if a person is destined to do what he wants, he will be able to do anything to his detriment. "

"How do you know if you are destined to be the one you are destined to be?"

"No one can know in advance whether they are destined to be their destiny. People only become vaguely aware of it after experiencing countless hardships of survival. But by this time, their destiny is no longer important to them."

"Are all those who failed those tests dead?"

Yun Chu patted Li Si's bun, nodded and said, "Yes, they are all dead, without exception."

"Does my father count as his destiny?"

"Forget it, because he is now invincible."

"Where is my queen mother?"

"It used to be considered destiny, but now that I have you, it's no longer destiny."

"Where's the prince's brother?"

"He is on the way to verify whether he is the one he is destined to be."

"And me?"

"You don't count. You are just a kind little girl. We are not going to fight for your destiny."

"Why don't you fight for it?"

"The process is too painful, and I don't think it's worth it. There is never a gain for nothing in this world. If you want to gain something, you have to exchange your most important things."

Li Si blinked and said, "It's really not cost-effective, and I don't want it anymore."

Yun Chu watched Li Silian jumping up and down to organize his business, and said to Wen Wen who had been warming himself by the fire, "Do you want to give it a try?"

Wen Wen shook his head and said: "The best is never my turn. If you force yourself, there will probably be a disaster that I can't bear."

Yun Chu didn't speak anymore. He sat across from Wen Wen and filled the teapot with water. The two of them watched the flames licking the bottom of the teapot. After a while, the water in the teapot squeaked due to the fire.

Di Renjie walked into the tent with a cold air, took off his cloak, rubbed his hands and came to the stove. He took the hot tea handed to him tenderly, held it in his hand, and said to the silent Yun Chu: "Something is very wrong."

Gentle said: "How serious is it?"

"Someone is deliberately trying to prevent His Majesty from going to Mount Tai for the Zen Ceremony."

Yun Chu said: "Your Majesty's 120,000 troops can crush all those who are dissatisfied and dissatisfied."

Di Renjie took a sip of hot tea and said, "They didn't want to stop us. Just the killings along the way would make your majesty's conferment ceremony end without any problems.

I investigated what happened in Yanshi County, and finally found out that Liu Lin was actually a sacrifice.

I have been raising them with delicious food for so many years, just waiting to be slaughtered by His Majesty without complaining and taking the knife obediently. "

Yun Chu was startled and said, "Is he so vicious?"

Di Renjie opened the tent curtain, glanced outside, retracted his head, and whispered: "People from Shandong and Hebei don't want His Majesty to patrol eastward."

Wen Wen looked at Yun Chu and said, "What can we do to avoid this storm?"

Di Renjie said: "We can't avoid it. From the moment His Majesty asked Yun Chu to serve as the commander-in-chief of the rear army, we can't avoid it.

After so many years, among the ten Dao in the world, only Henan Dao and Hebei Dao have not been completely conquered by the Tang Dynasty. On the surface, they surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, but in fact they were alienated from the Tang Dynasty. The most difficult to understand the imperial decrees are these two. In this place, especially under the prefectures and counties, the imperial decrees were almost impossible to pass.

It can even be said that in these two ways, what the imperial court really occupies are only the states and counties. Apart from these points, all the people are disobedient.

It's just that they are currently afraid of His Majesty's power and dare not raise troops to rebel. Once the Tang Center begins to weaken, it is certain that they will raise troops to rebel.

These days, I have been wandering in the countryside. When I passed some remote villages, I found that they were very wary of the officials. However, when we changed our clothes and talked to them again, we discovered that these people only knew The local squires had no regard for the Tang government. "

Wen Wen shook her head and said, "It's been 50 years since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, but it's still not able to win over the people. It's really strange."