Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 614
"Marshal!" Li Yanling, the envoy of Zhaoxin Army Jiedu, came to meet him in person in the Hanyin Station.

The two maids put away the pipa and other musical instruments, saluted and exited the room.

"Sit down." Shao Shude pointed to the bed.

Li Yanling sat opposite, Li Jin, Inspector of Fangzhou, and Li Zhong, Inspector of Xicheng, stood behind.

These two are his eldest son, second son, and his wife.

Among the old people in Fengzhou, Li Yanling is the oldest. He is 58 years old this year, and he no longer has the lofty ambitions of 20 years ago.

Now, his body is becoming fatter and fatter, and his expression is becoming more and more like that of a high-ranking person. There is almost no trace of the poor soldier in his early years.

His success is an excellent example of a martial artist in this era reaching the sky in one step.

His status is the goal that many young warriors who are still fighting for are striving for.

His story has inspired too many warriors who dare to fight.

I also want to be a Jiedushi, even if it's just a Jiedushi in name only!

"The old brothers are scattered everywhere, and it's getting harder to see each other now." Shao Shude suddenly became sentimental: "Some are in Lingxia, some are in Hezhong, some are in Qingtang, some are in Liangzhou, and some are in Xingyuan Mansion. "

Li Yanling was also a little sad, and asked after a long time: "I heard that Wang Yu's health is not well?"

"Yes." Shao Shude nodded and said, "I fell ill not long after returning to Lingzhou."

"It's a pity. He is also one of our own." Li Yanling sighed.

"It's been 17 years since the conquest of Li Guochang and his son. In the next 17 years, I'm afraid there will be no old man." Shao Shude's gaze was a little erratic, as if he was recalling the glorious years.

"Marshal, as long as the old brothers are still there, the foundation of the Shao family will be stable. I often tell Dalang and Erlang that when the marshal raised his army, he had only 50 people on hand, and he has laid down such a large foundation as it is today. I can't find a second one." Li Yanling said: "I'm old, I'm afraid I won't be able to accompany the commander-in-chief to the end. If there is an assignment in the future, let my two incompetent sons come. The loser will come to salute ?”

Li Jin and Li Zhong hurriedly stepped forward, bowed and saluted: "If your majesty is sent by you, you will go through fire and water, and you will be willing to do so."

Shao Shude smiled, and said: "Both of you are talents, and they will be of great use in the future. They are both from our own family, so they are more friendly than outsiders."

Li Jin and Li Zhong showed joy, and Li Yanling was also a little happy, saying: "This country belongs to the Shao family, we only recognize the son of the Shao family, whoever dares to disagree, the old brothers will kill him."

Shao Shude laughed out loud, looking very happy.

The two maids served tea to everyone one after the other.

"The reason I called you here this time is to ask if there is any extra money and food in the four prefectures of gold and merchants?" Under Shao Shude's signal, the soldiers unfolded a map.

"Niu Li reported that the three counties of Yiyang, Luoshan, and Zhongshan in Shenzhou have been conquered, and 3000 bandit troops have been captured and killed. The three counties of Dingcheng, Guangshan, and Xianju in Guangzhou have also been conquered. The bandit army has retreated through the water, and the situation is very good. .” Shao Shude pointed to Shen, Guang, Shou, Cai, Ying and other prefectures lined up along the Huaihe River on the map, and said: “Actually, I know that the Liang people did not have strong troops in Huainan. Mainly new recruits from the prefecture and county or local peasants. This victory is actually very limited. But this is a good opportunity—”

"Look here!" Shao Shude pointed to Huai Shui.

Li Yanling came over, squinted his eyes and tried to look at the densely packed small letters on the map, which recorded the approximate household registration, property and possible number of troops in each county.

"Crossing the Huai River to the north, you can reach Zhenyang and Xinxi counties in Caizhou. We have actually been here, but we failed to defend and were beaten back." Shao Shude continued: "The attack on Shen and Guang this time was just a routine. Unexpectedly, Zhu Quanzhong set up a new Fengguo Town in the two prefectures, but the place is so poor that the line of defense was broken. In this case, I will not be polite. This time I will rely on Shen and Guangzhou. Let's go, and spy on Caizhou again to see if he is in a hurry."

"Marshal, it can be seen that Liang's troops are not strong enough." Li Yanling said after listening for a long time, and realized something.

"Zhu Quanzhong lost 4 people in Heyang last year. Among them, more than [-] Yamen were able to fight. It's hard to say whether these people have been replenished or not." Now, aren’t the foreign-type miscellaneous cards consumed not human? This part of the force is not easy to find, if it’s gone, it’s gone.”

"Quanzhong was crucified in the Central Plains, so he couldn't fight Erzhu and Wang Shifan, so naturally he couldn't recruit soldiers." Li Yanling echoed: "It's still the commander who fought beautifully, I admire it."

"Don't talk about these useless things." Shao Shude drew a circle on the north bank of the Huai River again, and said: "In this area, there are [-] troops under Ding Huisuo, and Yang Shihou has only a few thousand troops. After careful calculation, our army has already occupied There is no need to be afraid of them anymore. Maybe we can attack Liang Jun further and give Zhu Quanzhong a ruthless blow. Now there is only one obstacle, the lack of food and grass, and we cannot fight a long-lasting battle."

Li Yanling understood.

The four states of gold and merchants have a population of more than 40.In the past, there were more than 2 people in the seven prefectures of Xiangyang, but now there are even fewer.Moreover, after years of war, food, grass, and equipment were consumed a lot, and it was very difficult to support the Weisheng army and the troops who came to help defend. Suddenly there were [-] more people, where to get food?

"Marshal, there's still some food after a squeeze." Li Yanling said with emotion: "After I go back, I will collect food immediately and ship it to Xiangyang."

Shao Shude hesitated for a moment, then nodded, and said, "Don't levy too harshly. Now that there is no harvest, the people are also very difficult. Let's levy [-] dendrobium, no more. Du Hong, I will also ask him to send [-] hu. Come here Wanhu."

One hundred thousand dendrobiums of grain can only be obtained for two months by an army of fifty thousand.Lingxia has food, let alone 100 hu, you can get [-] million hu, but you can't use it, so you can only do nothing.

"After collecting this batch of grain, let's reduce the tax next year." Shao Shude said again.

[-] hu grains, averaged to one household, that is [-] hu.For the four gold and merchant states with a small area of ​​arable land, it is actually a very heavy burden. This year, some people will definitely flee famine or even starve to death.

"Commander, the war is important. My family has some savings in Jinzhou. How about this? I'll take out [-] hu of grain, and another [-] min. There are grains shipped from other towns on the market, so I'll stock up on more grain. If it is in the hands of merchants, I will find someone to buy it." Li Yanling said: "It can also reduce the burden on the people."

"Okay!" Shao Shude patted Li Yanling on the shoulder, and said, "I won't let you go in vain. After this battle is over, there will be rewards for you."

……

Outside the north gate of Luoshan County, a large group of soldiers filed out.

They wore brown camel hair military uniforms, black pu hairs, horizontal knives and bow tips hanging from their waists, and their attitudes were high-spirited.

On one side of the team, the leading chariots and horses stretched to the far horizon.

The vehicle was full of supplies such as spears, armor, arrows, tarpaulins, shovels, and horse spoons. Occasionally, some heavy grain trucks passed by, and the ruts pressed deep marks on the muddy road surface after thawing.

Rangers no longer need to lead their horses on foot, they rode their war horses openly and passed by on both sides.

The scouts kept sending messages back and forth, and they were everywhere among the dark mountains.

"Boom, boom, boom!" A large cart stopped, and drummers beat the drums.

The sergeants who were on their way stopped one after another and began to organize their formation.

The officer with the recognition flag on his back shouted loudly to make everyone pay attention to their positions.

"Boom, boom, boom!" The drums sounded again, and the queue moved forward again.

The ten general Li Lin stationed his horse on the hillside on the side of the post road, and the deputy general He Xi was beside him adjusting the bowstring.

"Only dispatching 2000 people, will it be risky?" He Qu carefully tied the bowstring to the quiver, winding it round and round.

Li Lin looked at him enviously.

In the Battle of Mianchi, he broke two fingers, which made it very inconvenient for him to shoot arrows, so now he can only fight close to him.

"How many soldiers does Zhang Quanyi have? Even if he does, I'm afraid it won't be his turn to command, and he has already been transferred away." Li Lin laughed.

Of course, Zhang Quanyi is also very wronged. Who did I bring with me before, and who is it now?Will those state generals and town generals listen to me?The powers of affairs are not unified, and they can only manage civil affairs. The generals of the states and counties talk to themselves, and there is no leader.

Well, maybe those state and county generals are also annoying.They couldn't even get some equipment, and Ding Hui occupied several large warehouses, all of which were his own.Cang Du is theoretically a member of Zhang Quanyi, but he has no right to use what is in Curry.

Restricting each other, it's a mess.Rebellion means that no one can rebel, but in case of war, An, Sui, E and other states need to be conquered. Under the control of size, will there be no food for a hundred miles?

It's better to let Ding Hui come to be the Jiedu envoy, he has the final say, all his people, eliminate all kinds of miscellaneous constraints and internal friction, and unify the affairs and powers, so that we can win the battle.

"Zhang Quanyi's Jiedu envoy was mostly given by Zhu Quanzhong to appease him, but the military power is in Ding Hui's hands. Liang people are so chaotic, that's why we gave us a chance." After tying the bowstring, He Yan drew his knife and tried again. , smiled and said: "I heard that Guangzhou is also in a state of disunity. Liang Renxin occupied it not long ago, and his people's hearts have not been consolidated. He will be defeated in one blow. Caizhou may be more difficult, but there may be a chance."

"Let's not worry about it so much." Li Lin said: "The task is to build a pontoon bridge, don't worry about anything else. What did you say in class? After a victory, there is no order to pursue them. You must not pursue them. If you win, you will not pursue them, and if you lose, you will not be chaotic. This is the only way to be strong." Army. The order given to us is to build a pontoon bridge, so obey the order and don’t mess around.”

Li Lin is arrogant, but he doesn't dare to underestimate any opponent.

He has fought with the Bian army, fought with Qianghu in the grassland, and also fought with the soldiers of the Guanzhong Fan Town, so he has very rich experience.He also paid great attention to the army of Hebei Fanzhen, which was looked down upon by some people and thought to be lifeless, and has been collecting information and conducting research.

Maybe one day he will go to fight Wei Bo, Wei Bojun is looked down upon by others, can he really not fight?

At this time, the Silver Gun Xiaojie Army has not yet appeared, but he does not think that the Wei Bowu people who have been separated for more than 100 years cannot fight - the Silver Gun Xiaojie Army originally had ten thousand people, and there were still [-] people when they rebelled against Liang and returned to Jin. When defeated, they can maintain their formation without being chaotic, and when attacking, they can attack from the bottom of the hillside to the top of the hillside, attacking repeatedly, fighting to the death without retreating. Rui, occupying the top of the mountain, with such combat power, even in the past dynasties, it is still the first-class strong army, but it is a pity that it is not very obedient and easy to rebel.

"Enough rest, let's go!" Li Lin beckoned, and the soldiers led the horses.

"If you make great achievements in this battle, you can go to the martial arts hall to learn, right?" Before leaving, He Qu asked.

Li Lin didn't answer, just laughed and left.

The soldiers followed behind, and a group of people galloped down the hillside like the wind.

Quietly flowing on the south bank of the Huai River, a dragon-like army has rushed to it, and the speed has surprised everyone.

(End of this chapter)