stubborn thief

Chapter 380
In June, the sea battle was clouded, and Xining Prefecture mobilized 42 herdsmen, and the yak team dragging the artillery galloped, and [-] vehicles and boats were transported back and forth.

Hauge was anxious like an ant on a hot pot. He wandered around the new city full of donkey and horse dung all day long. He begged to see Liu Xiangyu nine times in three days. Miss Liu.

"Master!"

Hauge's etiquette is very good. When meeting Liu Xiangyu, he first stepped forward and then took a step back. He bowed his left knee, lowered his right hand, and leaned forward to salute Liu Xiangyu. Then he got up and asked eagerly, "Why did you start fighting?"

Liu Xiangyu held the red flag in a daze, raised his hand in return, and said, "Follow me into the mansion."

After finishing speaking, he sighed, then nodded lightly: "It's still fighting."

Hongqi is not considered an old horse. According to its age, it is considered to be in the prime of life. It should have served for another three years, but in the seven years it was most suitable for the army, three of them were in the stage of malnutrition. Not as good as before.

The last time he participated in the war, Liu Chengzong felt that it was a bit powerless to carry him, so he handed it over to his father, who usually does not wear armor, to ride it, and then sent it to Longju Island on the sea in two years to live up to his old age.

After entering the yamen, when Liu Xiangyu sat in the chief seat, Hauge stood aside and began to complain: "Don't you know that my nephew is here, and I made my nephew wait so hard."

Regarding this matter, Liu Xiangyu didn't say much, he didn't miss Hauge on purpose, it's just that the war started and he was busy with affairs, so he couldn't take care of it at all.

He shook his head and said, "Do you know how many wedding banquets this old man has attended in recent days? I just came back from Hehuang yesterday. In the evening, I participated in the wedding ceremony of 29 officers in the camp, and I sent them off again early this morning. You should also know that it was a big battle." , any matter that matters must be compromised for the war.”

"Yes!"

Hauge’s face was filled with a smile, and he said happily, “Let’s just say, Grandpa definitely didn’t miss me on purpose... I understand what Grandpa said, how similar the Shuai’s mansion is to our country. They participated in the marriages of generals and officials one after another, and there was a day when fifteen generals and officials got married together."

Liu Xiangyu frowned slightly and flickered away, showing great interest calmly, and asked, "Oh? How did you marry the general?"

"It's not just about surrendering generals, our country has its own laws and regulations. Those Han officials who surrender to me at the first rank will take the daughters of the Baylors in the country as their wives; the second rank will marry the daughters of the Baylors or ministers. If there are no widows, money will be paid from the treasury to marry another widow from the people.”

"for?"

Liu Xiangyu cared about this word very much, so he asked emphatically, and after receiving Hauge's affirmative answer, he brushed his beard and nodded slowly: "Your father is a very powerful man."

Having been praised by Master Liu, Hauge was also proud of his father, raised his face and said with a smile: "Yes, otherwise my ancestors have so many sons, why would it be my father who is the king?"

Hauge didn't forget what he was here for, so he hurriedly asked: "Grandfather, Heshuote Guoshi Khan has paid tribute to my father and king, why does the commander insist on going to war with Oala? Could it be that we wait for the benefits of the coalition forces?" , not as good as that Chahar?"

"This matter has nothing to do with you."

When it came to business, Liu Xiangyu still had the same good-natured appearance on his face, but his words became more serious: "For example, my commander-in-chief in Qinghai dispatched troops for four thousand miles and stationed [-] troops at Tieling Guard, and asked your father for Tashan and Tieling , Taining, Duoyan, and Fuyu as grazing land, could your father bear the humiliation and cede the land?"

"This, this is absolutely impossible, then separate Horqin."

As soon as Hauge finished speaking, Master Liu sneered: "Hmph, the Wala Tartars also separated our Kangning Mansion, and even wanted to ask for a place for fifty thousand soldiers to recuperate. Isn't this a daydream?"

Hearing this, Hauge was in a difficult situation, thinking that the Heshuo Special Department had just sent an envoy to the Kingdom of Jin to pay tribute, and the Weifu Wanli had just stepped out of the first step, and He Shuo Te was about to start a war with the Marshal's Mansion, and things were very difficult .

Thinking in another way, if you put him in the perspective of the Oirat coalition forces, the current situation is extremely difficult.

First, Chahar Lindan Khan was not dead, and the coalition forces failed to achieve the purpose of the expedition, and their prestige was damaged by hastily returning; second, even if they wanted to go back, the food and supplies of the [-] troops were also a headache.

Anyway, looking at the deployment of the Oirat coalition forces, they don't look like they're turning around.

Hauge shook his head, speechless.

On the contrary, Liu Xiangyu brushed his beard and said with a smile: "I heard people say that you are always sitting on the ridge of the roof in a daze these days, what do you see?"

"Ah?" Hauge was taken aback, and began to play dumb: "The sunset in the new city is beautiful."

Liu Xiangyu didn't speak, just looked at him with a half-smile.

Hauge fought with his father since he was a child. Although he was young, he had developed a sharp eye. During this time, he had been living outside the new city, and the grand war preparations of the Marshal's Mansion could not be hidden from him.

The carriages and horses are rustling, and he sits on the roof for half an hour every day, calculating the number of donkeys and mules passing through Xincheng from the east to the south. Too much.

For seven consecutive days, the Marshal’s Mansion transported no less than [-] donkeys and mules to the south via Xincheng every day. Adding in the tens of thousands of livestock that had already been transported to the pastures west of Xincheng after the victory, the number swelled terribly.

Because he has seen that the army of the Marshal's Mansion used carts to transport the luggage, and the donkeys and mules were all carrying the luggage. The mobilization of so many donkeys and mules meant that the [-] or so Ming troops who surrendered in the Hehuang War were basically digested. Lost.

Hauge met Liu Xiangyu's eyes, felt a little guilty, and said with a dry smile: "The army of the commander-in-chief is marching very fast."

Liu Xiangyu laughed, his family knew about his family affairs, but in fact the Shuai's mansion didn't have many livestock.

Perhaps before the Hehuang War, a large number of livestock were domesticated, but facing the current situation of eating meat, population expansion, and military expansion, the ratio of livestock, civilians, and soldiers in the Marshal's Mansion further increased.

Even after they plundered the countryside of Lanzhou, the number of their sheep and pigs was very tight; and the number of farm cattle was not even enough to distribute to the people of Hehuang.

More than [-] donkeys and mules were requisitioned this time, many of which were mules used by the people of Hehuang to pull the plow and plow the ground.

The Marshal's Mansion wanted to transfer livestock from Hehuang, but the carrier couldn't get around it. When the carrier heard that the second uncle was going to buy livestock in Hehuang, he suggested not to buy donkeys, but to buy mules instead.

There are only about 15 horses, donkeys and mules in the entire Hehuang Valley to the east of Xining. This number is already very dangerous, and most of them are mules.

The mules are good, but the mules are not suitable. Now the problem in Hehuang is that if these mules die, the number of horses and donkeys will be reduced to [-] to [-]. It will be a trivial matter to affect production at that time, and the Shuai Mansion will have no mules in the future. up.

The reason for the lack of large animals is the war. On the one hand, the donkeys and mules died in the war, and on the other hand, the former wealthy families fled and their large animals were taken away.

Liu Xiangyu originally wanted to buy donkeys, on the one hand because donkeys were cheaper than mules, and on the other hand because the Marshal’s Mansion had just established Yuanma Temple, and donkeys could breed mules after the war.

Chengyun is the one who knows the goodness of mules best, and he doesn't want to see donkeys die during the war, so he suggested that Mr. Liu allow him to rent and buy mules in Hehuang, and send the mules to war and the donkeys to sea.

His method is very simple. The [-] township security guards in Hehuang have been established and perfected, and the chief security guards of each township security guard are the middlemen, signing contracts to borrow mules from the people, and giving silver five qian per month.

After the war, the mule would be returned alive, and the government would pay the mule eight liang of silver and one liang of saddle bag silver if it died.

The price offered by the carrier is not high. In the past, the price of renting mules for travel and buying mules was more than that, but the advantage is that there is no need to send people, the commander-in-chief manages rations, and pays compensation after death. Therefore, the decree was first issued. So he put up a recruitment notice, set up a recruitment table, and registered the mules.

The people of all families washed and dressed their mules one after another, fed them enough fodder, and sent them to the township insurance office, where they signed the deeds and pledged them.

For the people of Hehuang, what is the point of renting a mule? Before they go, they have to check whether the mule is sick or not, whether it is lame or weak.

This is no different from recruiting soldiers, except that the recruits are not people but mules, so beating gongs and drums, it looks like sending your own baby to the battlefield.

As for donkeys, the carrier also bought a batch of more than 3000 donkeys, all of which were good-looking and tall male and female donkeys, and they were purchased at high prices.

Now it's the estrus season, let Cui Cong take good care of it, and try to breed it this year, and the next [-] horses, donkeys and mules will come out.

The horse garden of the Marshal's Mansion is located in the area around the lake in Qinghai. The main reason is that the mating place can be placed on the sea, which is a serious sea, and Haixin Mountain in the middle of Qinghai Lake.

The fleet of the Naval Yamen discovered the mountain during the voyage. On Sunday, they went back and looked through the books for several days to compare them one by one. Then they took a boat to board the mountain and found the ruins of an ancient city on it. They confirmed that it was Longju Island in Tuyuhun, Qinghai. Cong's origin.

Qinghai Lake has dragons absorbing water in summer, so it is rumored that there are white dragons on the sea. During the Tuyuhun period, the sea was often frozen in winter, and strong mares were driven to Haixin Mountain to breed and mate. They are called dragon species, which is the source of Qinghai Cong, so Haixin The mountain is also called Longju Island.

When Ge Shuhan in the Tang Dynasty moved the Shence Army to build a city on the island, the city was first named Shenwei City, but later it was renamed Yinglong City because of the sight of the white dragon.

Therefore, Liu Chengzong's Yuanma Temple is also called Longju Temple. The seat of Cui Cong, the minister of Longju Temple, is located in Yinglong City, with three gardens in Haibei, Haixi, and Hainan. 300 mu, recruit 12 herdsmen, and [-] farmers, who are responsible for herding and breeding horses, mules, donkeys and cattle.

Cui Cong used to be the supervisor of Qingpingyuan, Guyuan Supervisory Office of the imperial court. He was captured when Zhenyuan fell, and was taken to Qinghai by Master Liu. For a long time, he worked as a groom for Master Liu.

But this is indeed a talented and good man. When Mr. Liu investigated the information of Zhenyuan County, he was regarded as a hungry person, and he wanted to be recruited to Qingpingyuan to serve as En's army and eat horse food to survive.

This person could never have dreamed that a momentary act of kindness allowed him to get the same level as Sunday Qiang.

Cui Cong’s Minister of Longju Temple was also awarded the title of Captain Huaiyuan. The ranks of the Marshal’s Mansion are divided into 27 ranks: general, colonel, and third rank, ninth grade, and [-] ranks. Four products.

Therefore, Captain Huaiyuan is actually a little low for Zhou Riqiang, but for Cui Cong, who was once the supervisor of the ninth rank, he is a step up to the sky.

Liu Chengzong thought hard about people's mentality before he was appointed as an official. For Zhou Riqiang, he couldn't be awarded a higher official position, a higher two-level school lieutenant. Ren servant.

As for the higher-level generals Zhaoyong, they were basically promoted from General Qian in the Hehuang War, such as Zhang Tianlin, Huang Shengxiao, Gao Yingdeng and others.

This group of dicks drank and managed Zhou Tongzhi as the owner of Xianyu Fang, so it would definitely not work to put a piece of it.

On the contrary, everyone respected Cui Cong. After all, they all lead soldiers to fight. Besides Li Laozhen, who doesn't like Bi Mawen?

Old Jackal Li couldn't do it, that guy had a feud with Zhenyuan County defenders, but he didn't like anyone who used to be Zhenyuan County defenders, let alone Cui Cong.

Liu Xiangyu had just talked about the mule with Hauge, when Hauge suddenly asked: "Grandfather, since the commander-in-chief insists on going to war with Oirat, my nephew is powerless to stop him, but there are two more requests, I hope the master can tell the commander-in-chief after the war." .”

Master Liu asked, "What request?"

"I hope that the Shuai Mansion can do business with our country in Mobei, and allow merchants to go to the mutual market and receive goods."

When Hauge said this, he clenched his fists and paused, then raised his little finger, ring finger and middle finger in turn: "Our country buys at three times the market price."

Xincheng is guarding the Juerwan market. These days, Hauge has inquired about the prices in Juerwan, and the prices are not high, even very low for him.

The situation in Juerwan is that there is not much silver, but mastering the top handicraft technology from the craftsmen of the palace in this era, they can make almost everything. In terms of raw materials, this place is also particularly abundant. On the contrary, silver is only available after the Hehuang War In addition to the normal reserves, the market circulation is not much.

In the Kingdom of Jin, which is separated by rivers, this situation is just the opposite.

There are not many things they can produce. Liaodong is a traditional military region, and most of the advanced technology available for plunder is military, but it does not help people's livelihood much.

The Ming Dynasty spent a lot of military expenditure in Liaodong, but after the military failure, a large part of these precious metals flowed into the territory of Jin, and there was no place to trade them. In this case, the more silver people plundered, the higher the price so that silver is cheap and goods are expensive.

Especially the disasters of famine and crop production reduction also affected the Kingdom of Jin, and it was precisely because of this that Huang Taiji chose to fight against all opinions in difficult times and launched a war in the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, causing changes in himself.

It is a very attractive suggestion to purchase a batch of goods at three times the price, but Liu Xiangyu is noncommittal about this, and just asks: "What about the second thing?"

Hauge really didn't expect Liu Xiangyu to have such a reaction. He thought that the Marshal's Mansion should be very eager for silver, but he was stunned for a moment, and said seriously: "My father is planning to abolish the name of Shen, and join the Mongolian and Han people to form a new clan. I also hope that Grandpa will tell the generals about the alliance as soon as possible, and we will form a clan together and call Manchuria together, wouldn't it be a good thing?"

All called Manchuria?

Liu Xiangyu stared fixedly at Hauge for a moment, then groped on the table with his hands down, lit his pipe with a scythe, and asked after a pause, "Have you ever heard a poem?"

Haug was stunned, blinked and asked, "What poem?"

"Don't you see, Qinghai head, the bones have never been harvested in ancient times."

Liu Xiangyu didn't tell Hauge what the poem meant.

Just this morning came the news that the Qinghai Generalissimo's shogunate had moved into Yingpancheng, mobilizing civilians to collect the remains of the soldiers of the Tang army who died in the battle of Shibaocheng, and set up a cemetery.

Even the son of a soldier of the Tang Army 900 years ago thought he was one of his own who should collect the corpse. What kind of ambition is this? How could he join Manchuria?

In the light blue smoke, Liu Xiangyu said: "Haoge, it's too early, we'll wait until you become king, maybe then we can talk about the matter of being called Huaxia."

　good afternoon!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)