Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 325 Qing Tang
On the fifteenth day of the fifth month of the second year of Wende, an army gathered on the pasture by the Yanchi Lake.

Shao Shude was riding a war horse, reviewing the troops.

"The Guiyi Army has [-] riders, and they look decent. If they were to fight against the Ganzhou Uighurs, they should be able to fight. It's hard to say who will win and who will lose. It feels like the Guiyi Army has a better chance of winning. But their number is too small It's gone..." Shao Shude slowly thought while watching.

The Guiyi Army only has two prefectures and four counties. They have strong financial resources, but their household registration is not rich.Counting the vassal tribes, the maximum will not exceed 8, so it can only support more than 20 soldiers and horses.Even if you fight desperately with others, it is estimated that you can only draw [-] to [-] soldiers, and it won't last long.

If such a regime loses the east screen of Suzhou and is attacked from both sides by the Ganzhou Uyghurs and Gaochang Uyghurs, its collapse is a high probability event.Even if it does not die, it will definitely become a vassal of the two.

"Sha and Gua states, in the five states of the Hexi Corridor, the conditions are really not good. If the trade route is opened, the Guiyi Army will share more benefits, attract more people to settle down, and assimilate more Fan tribes. The strength should gradually increase." Shao Shude flicked his horsewhip and went to the next phalanx.

The Yumen Army, also known as the Suzhou Army.

Just like this, Long couldn't wait to name his army of more than [-] people the Yumen Army.This is the number of the troops under the Hexi Jiedushi in the past, and it was taken over by a group of Hu soldiers with high noses, deep eyes, beards and red hair. It seems quite happy.

This army is nothing more than a show!Shao Shude quickly came to a conclusion.

The army is disorganized, there is a lot of noise, and the soldiers don't know how to train. No wonder they couldn't beat the Ganzhou Uighurs back then.

If these soldiers were handed over to Zhu Shuzong's management, the coach of the capital made the yamen practice hard for a few years, and they should have made great progress.It's just that Marshal Shao won't help them do these things, and the Long family probably won't be happy either.

Behind them are the tribal armies of the states.Gamo, Tuyuhun, Tubo, Qiang, Tatar, Sogdian are too complicated.Shao Shude felt that if he led these people to fight, he would probably be defeated in a big way.

Just a language problem is a headache for a long time, just like the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

"I will give you a piece of brocade, a piece of grain, and a sheep." After turning around, Shao Shude ordered.

The army suddenly burst into enthusiastic cheers.

Although the craftsmanship and raw materials of the brocade in the Ganzhou treasury are not very good, brocade is brocade, and it must be more expensive than variegated silk.

Fan brocade and Persian brocade woven from Punjabi wild silkworm silk can be sold for seven or eight hundred yuan a piece.

The raw materials of Gaoli brocade are similar to those of the Central Plains, but the craftsmanship is slightly inferior, so they can only be sold at this price.

Shu brocade is expensive, and can be sold for about a thousand dollars, or even a little more.

This reward is not bad.As far as the soldiers of the Guiyi Army are concerned, what they even get on weekdays is only local cloth from Dunhuang.This thing is not cheap in the Central Plains, but in Dunhuang, Yizhou, and Xizhou, it is really too cheap, and not many people are willing to want it. Everyone likes silk.

As for why not resell the cloth to the Central Plains.That's because people in the Central Plains don't like this thing either. It's expensive, but the demand is extremely small. It's for some customers who love to hunt for novelties or show off, or give it to the ministers and generals as a reward.

In short, the king of Lingwu County gave a lot of rewards, and everyone was very happy.

Zhang Huaishen followed behind Shao Shude with a calm face.Long Jiu was a little unnatural, those big soldiers of the Yumen Army, don't be bribed, although the possibility is not high.

After the rewards were distributed, all the troops dispersed, each preparing food, grass and equipment and heading south.

Shao Shude summoned Suo Xun, the newcomer, and said: "General Suo has worked hard all the way, and this time he goes south, he has to work hard again. Shanzhou and Tubo have coveted the Hexi states for a long time, and they must be shocked, otherwise sooner or later trouble."

Shao Shude is talking nonsense with his eyes open.Shanzhou Tubo, why not attack He, Lin, Lan, and Wei prefectures that are close at hand, but instead go to Hexi?But his power is too strong, so naturally he can say whatever he wants.

"After receiving the rewards, all the troops will set off tomorrow?" Although Shao Shude's tone was asking, Zhang and Long didn't take it seriously, and immediately nodded in agreement.

Shao Shude looked at Suo Xun again.

This person came to Ganzhou with more than 4000 infantry. After hearing that Shaw and Zhang were about to get married, his attitude suddenly changed, and he suddenly became submissive.

The old slippery one!
In history, after Zhang Huaiding killed his elder brother's family, he let his corpse be exposed in the wilderness, and no one dared to collect it.But Suo Xun took Zhang Huaishen's daughter home and later hired him into Suo's family. He was very thoughtful and courageous.

Two years later, Zhang Huaiding was seriously ill, and before his death, he asked Suoxun to ask him to be alone.Suo Xun kept on doing nothing, and simply took the position by himself.In order to buy people's hearts, Zhang Huaishen's remains were also collected and buried in a grand burial, hoping that Zhang Huaishen's forces would fall to him.

It's a pity that no one paid attention to it, and the big clans such as the Yin family and the Li family also opposed it, and they were finally killed by the Zhang family.

This kind of person is ambitious and powerful, but he is not difficult to deal with.As long as he sees the absolute difference in strength, this kind of person is more obedient than a mindless martial artist.

On May [-], the army marched southward for the second time.

Five thousand cavalry from the Silver Spear Capital acted as the vanguard, followed by more than ten thousand soldiers and horses from various tribes in Liangzhou, and then the main force of the Shuofang Army, namely the Iron Cavalry Army, the Leopard Cavalry Capital, the Tianzhu Army (the Jinglue Army stayed in Ganzhou), and the Feng'an Army. Behind them were more than [-] Guiyi Army, more than [-] Yumen Army, and finally some tribal armies in Suzhou and Ganzhou.

The whole army has more than [-] people, hundreds of large and small carts, more than [-] camels, and hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep.Going all the way, it stretches for dozens of miles, so scary.

On the [-]th, all the silver guns came to report that they had passed Biandukou and occupied the abandoned Dadoujun City.

On the 22nd, the Chinese army arrived at Dadoujun City. At this time, the former army came to report: the silver guns had already passed the Xingling.

Lu Ming took out a new map and spread it out on the table.There are still two identical copies in the baggage car horse. If necessary, the painter can continue to rush to draw, in case the commander-in-chief is furious and pierces Shanzhou with his finger again, which is useless.

Da Dou Army City is already in Da Dou Ba Valley, not far from the north end exit.It was getting late, the temperature dropped sharply, and the wind was blowing fiercely. The auxiliary soldiers who were camping and setting up tents were in a hurry-this city was built in the 16th year of Kaiyuan, and there were 500 soldiers in charge. It was in disrepair for a long time, and many collapsed. Only about [-] people can be stationed, and most of the sergeants have to camp outside.

Fortunately, having learned from Yang Guang's lesson, the army prepared a lot of firewood for heating, as well as a lot of winter clothes and furs.It would not be like the Sui army who returned from victory, with sudden changes in weather, snow in summer, and the army froze to death "six or seven out of ten" of the frostbitten. The severe cold caused heavy casualties, and even Yang Guang's sister died of illness.

This is not understanding the severe cold climate of high mountains.It was early summer outside, but it was windy and snowy when we entered the valley. The luck was really bad, but it was also really uneducated.

"Go out of Dadouba Valley, cross Haomenchuan (now Datong River) in the south, cross Xingsuchuan, enter Xingsuchuan in the southeast, and reach Anrenjun City, a total of 390 miles." Shao Shude's finger scratched on it again, Lu Ming has already planned to order his soldiers to fetch a new map.

Anren Juncheng was built in the seventh year of Kaiyuan, and it has tens of thousands of soldiers.

"The Anren Army went south, crossed the Changning Valley, and reached the Heyuan Army for fifty miles." Shao Shude moved his finger to the side again, and said to himself, "Let's meet with the various tribes in Shancheng County."

Shancheng County (now Xining, Qinghai) is the garrison of the Heyuan Army.The Heyuan Army has 4000 soldiers, and it was established in the second year of Yifeng. It is the second most powerful army in Longyou Town, and the military envoy is concurrently served by the Longyou Jiedu Envoy.

"Commander, Shancheng County is already the gathering place of Tubo in Shanzhou. If the army marches over, I'm afraid it will cause misunderstanding." Chen Cheng first watched silently from the side, and after listening to Shao Shude's words, he stepped forward to remind him.

It is the job of the coach to make decisions, and it is the responsibility of the staff to make suggestions.Although he didn't think there would be any consequences for tens of thousands of troops going to Shancheng County, he still needed to be reminded.

"Let's go to Shancheng County!" Shao Shude poked his finger, but fortunately, the map was not broken.

Chen Cheng glanced silently, knowing in his heart that the commander had no intention of killing.

After a night's rest in Dadou Bagu, the army continued on its way.During this period, some leaders of small tribes in Tubo came to visit and offered more than [-] horses and more than [-] sheep.Shao Shude sent people to distribute some Koryo brocade as a reward, and asked the Tubo tribes to offer a thousand yaks.

On the 28th, all silver guns came to report that they had arrived at the Anren Army, and at the same time... beheaded three hundred levels.

Lying down a big trough!Shao Shude, who was having dinner, started to shoot the table.

What are the Uighurs doing?So murderous?Wang Chong, the top ten generals, can no longer be a general, he can't restrain his troops at all.Or did he himself order the war?If it is the latter, it must be dealt with strictly.

"Send an order to Lu Yan and Cui Su to speed up the march and go south to the Anren Army to meet the Silver Spear Capital." Shao Shude said, "Where is the rear army?"

"It should still be in the Haomen River area." Lu Ming replied, "Do you want to order him to go south as soon as possible?"

"No." Shao Shude waved his hand and said, "Let him proceed with caution and protect the rations."

The army went south, although there were many cattle and sheep, there was no danger of food and drink.But people can't just eat meat and milk, they also have to eat grains.The [-] dendrobium of wheat, [-] dendrobium of highland barley, and [-] dendrobium of Uighur beans were all made with the utmost efforts of Gansu and Suzhou, and there was no room for loss.

"The ministries at the end of the mountain may not be enough. Send an order to Zhe Siyu to disperse the cavalry to expand the search area to prevent accidents." Shao Shude ordered again: "Find Tian Xing for me."

Tian Xing was more than ten miles north of the Chinese Army's big tent, and rushed there overnight after hearing the news.

"General Tian, ​​what was the attitude of the Tubo tribes last time when we fought to pull out the valley?" Shao Shude asked.

"Hui Dashuai is not very obedient, but there is not much hostility. The Qingtang City area is occupied by various parts of Tubo. Monks live in the city, and the prestige is very high. After Ganzhou Uighurs plundered merchants, some Hu merchants also changed away The area around Qingtang City entered Guanzhong via Longyou Town. Many Hu merchants and craftsmen simply settled in Qingtang City. When the last general led his army through this place, he saw hundreds of artisan shops inside and outside the city, and many Tibetans came to purchase goods."

Shao Shude nodded slowly.

Qingtang City, which is Shancheng County, is very large.According to the information obtained in the past, this city is almost the central capital of Shanzhou, the Tubo nest. Various tribes often come here to participate in gatherings, sell goods, and buy goods.

Fan monks lived in the city.The monks in Tubo are different from those in the Han area. They are directly involved in political affairs, and there are not a few who marry wives and concubines.Some also have tribes that directly obey his orders and control the force.

Qingtang City, it seems that it already has the taste of a capital city.The Tibetan tribes in Shanzhou, with this core city as a link, formed a loose alliance and met regularly.

No wonder the descendants of Zanpu were welcomed back to Shanzhou more than a hundred years later. Expand its influence, attract more tribes to vote, and finally form a regime with a population of more than 100 million, which can be called a miniature version of the Tubo Empire.

Now, the Qingtang City area should have been slowly gestating the core of Tubo's re-establishment.

Shao Shude stroked the short beard under his chin.Killing enemies in their infancy is his favorite thing to do.

Xixia and Ganzhou Uighurs, the two serious national fortunes, have been stifled. Is it the turn of Qingtang and Tubo now?
"What information is there in Kanto recently?" Shao Shude asked Chen Cheng.

"Back to Commander, after Zhu Quanzhong defeated Qin Zongquan, he has been resting and recuperating. In the past two years, there have been frequent battles, and the people can't bear it. They should wait for the busiest spring sowing season to pass before sending troops again to attack Shi Pu or the Zhu family brothers. The same is true, after repeated battles, the people are exhausted, so I dare not miss the farming season this year. But it is already May, and most of the army to conquer Xingzhou has already set off." Chen Cheng replied.

"Okay!" Shao Shude sat back on the desk again, with a plan in mind.

(End of this chapter)