Chastity Layman 2

Chapter 893 The Northern Expedition
After the Dragon Boat Festival, official documents from Chang'an became more and more frequent. The emperor also asked the Dianqian Secretary to set up an intelligence line for Qin Lang, and there were secret letters between the monarch and his ministers almost every day.

Regarding the upcoming battle to the north, the emperor kept discussing some details with Qin Lang.And the prime ministers of the Zhengshitang will also write to ask Qin Lang for his opinions in three or two days.

The entire court of Chang'an was suffocating to trample down the arrogant Xue Yantuo and Goguryeo who wanted to challenge Datang.

Xue Yantuo in Mobei and Goguryeo in Liaodong, they finally came together. One is the Siberian tiger who once kowtowed to the Central Plains, and the other is the new tribal wolf in Mobei. Taking over the Turks to dominate the grasslands, especially under the leadership of the young head wolf Yinan, he has become more and more fierce.

Li Shimin was furious at the provocation of Xue Yantuo and Goguryeo. He originally wanted to restrain and control them through diplomatic means, but now everything shows that this idea will not work.

Xue Yantuo's cavalry infantry often came to Monan. Yang Guozhong, the newly appointed Eastern Turkic Khan, was unable to return to Mobei. The little Khan Li Simo in the south was blocked and attacked several times, and many cattle and sheep were robbed.

Today’s Eastern Turks are no longer what they used to be, scattered in all directions, some tribes fled to the Western Regions, some tribes resettled in Monan, and many were conscripted by the Tang Dynasty to herd horses or go to the southern borders, especially It is the current Eastern Turks, without the powerful wolf king to lead them, and they are always at a disadvantage in the contest with the Xue Yantuo people.

In particular, the Xue Yantuo people, relying on their advantages in iron smelting and forging, occupied many large open-air iron mines in Mobei. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, they acquired many Turkic forging slaves and Han artisans, and their armor and weapon forging skills were greatly improved. .

Therefore, Yinan created a brand new Xue Yantuo army, not known for its light cavalry like the Turks, but focused on building cavalry infantry with high mobility and strong defense capabilities.

Riding two or even three horses, they can gallop hundreds of miles a day and night, and dismount when encountering an enemy. Two out of ten people are responsible for watching the horses behind, and the remaining eight dismount and put on armor to fight on foot.

They have iron armor and strong bows. These infantry archers are very fierce. They beat the Turkic people to death, and the Huihe Alliance, which is also made of iron, still takes the way of light cavalry and archery. In front of these mounted infantry, it is the same Can't shoot, can't attack.

Yi Nan's move is popular all over the world, relying on this move, he is invincible in all aspects on the grassland, and after that, he doesn't take Datang seriously.

He now claims to have 40 Jingqi every day, and he is not afraid of anyone.

Although he was still only engaged in raids in the Yinshan area and did not dare to go deep into the foot of the Great Wall, his ambition was unmistakable. He sent envoys to Taiyuan and Chang'an again and again to ask the Tang Dynasty to marry a princess, and asked the court to separate Monan and Hetao. All were assigned to Xue Yantuo, and they also demanded control over Turks.

Goguryeo hooked up with Yi Nan, and under the strong interference of Yuan Gai Suwen, King Gao Jianwu also had to follow his advice, and joined forces with Xue Yantuo to prepare to send troops to retake Beisha City, cross the Liaohe River, and take Liaoxi.

The two captives were sharpening their swords, and the court had to step up preparations for the battle.

The eight armies of the emperor's Beiya have already begun to organize and train the battalions for combat preparation, and they have been dispatched to Taiyuan, Youzhou, Fengzhou, Liangzhou, Yingzhou and other northern areas to strengthen their defenses. In addition to commanding troops, the remaining twelve guards were also urgently mobilized across the country, recruiting government soldiers, and assembled in Chang'an, Luoyang, Jingzhou, Yangzhou, Lanzhou and other places.

More than 20 elites were recruited, and at the same time, more than 60 young and strong peasants began to mobilize to transfer food and supplies.

It can be said that this battle is the largest mobilization battle since the founding of the Tang Dynasty.

Even the emperor told his courtiers several times that he wanted to drive to Youzhou or Taiyuan to sit in town, let the prince Chengqian go to Luoyang to supervise the country, and let Wei Wang Li Tai stay in Xijing.

In his recent letter to Qin Lang, the emperor even proposed to transfer Qin Lang to the north, and ask him to be in charge of the battlefield, or coordinate the whole army, or serve as the general manager of the emperor's imperial camp.

The emperor revealed to Qin Lang that his plan was to march out several routes, reaching Liaohe in the east and starting from Jinshan in the west. On a front thousands of miles away, Datang would dispatch an army of more than 30 troops, and at the same time recruit Turkic, Khitan, Xi Soldiers from a total of eighteen vassal states, including Tuyuhun, Dangxiang, Western Turks, and Gaochang, will send more than 50 troops in total.

However, this plan was considered unreliable by Qin Lang, because the more troops were dispatched, the longer the battle line would be, and the more difficult it would be for the armies to cooperate, the more likely there would be gaps in the plan, and the greater the pressure on logistical supplies would be. The greater the disruption to production such as domestic agriculture.

At that time, Yang Guang sent more than 110 million troops to attack Goguryeo, and then recruited several times the number of civilians. The scale was unprecedentedly large and unprecedented, and the imperial conscripts were also personally conscripted. However, the hundreds of thousands of troops fought extremely stiffly, especially under huge logistical pressure, which caused unprecedented damage to people's livelihood. In the end, it can be said that the conquest of Liao failed. The first defeat was due to too many soldiers, and then the emperor's chaotic command.

Qin Lang always believed that even if Goguryeo and Xue Yantuo joined hands, the two families are far apart, and it is impossible to join forces, so the final result is to fight on their own. To them, the Tang Dynasty must first defend the border and remain invincible , and then choose one or two generals to lead one or two elite divisions and look for opportunities to fight.

You have five or six million soldiers, and your troops are divided into dozens of routes to enter Liaodong or Mobei. It will be quite dangerous for you to eat horses along the way, let alone so many soldiers, it is also difficult to find the main force.

The Goguryeo people have a strong defense system for mountain cities. These people are the best at defending. It is not a problem to lie down in the mountain city for a year or two. Tang Jun thinks it will be very difficult to take down each city. Moreover, Liaodong is very cold, and winter will be one of the attackers. big problem.

Mobei is too far away. After all, the Xueyantuo people are also nomadic people. If you make a large-scale campaign, they will run away if they can't beat them. You can't find anyone.

The emperor wanted to conscript Qin Lang, but Qin Lang directly refused, saying that the South of the Five Ridges is still in turmoil. He has mobilized and recruited [-] elite soldiers from the South of the Five Ridges, and sent [-] young and strong men from the South of the Five Ridges to transport grain and grass to the north. The large fleet also returned to defend the north, and prepared a lot of money and food to transport them together.

As for the fact that he still has to sit in Lingnan for the time being.

He also opposed the emperor's personal conquest, thinking that the emperor could at most move to Luoyang, the eastern capital.The prince can stay behind in the west of Beijing, but it is not suitable for Wei Wangtai to stay behind. Why should a young prince stay behind?If you want to stay behind, you should choose one or two prime ministers to assist the prince to stay behind.

It leaves Songping City in Jiaozhou, enters the Longjiang River and flows southward, and then enters the Baiteng River, a tributary, all the way to Taiping City in Wu'an Prefecture, hundreds of miles away.

Because of Taiping Port, the Baiteng River is busy with shipping, and countless merchant ships and passenger ships come and go.Nowadays, many merchant ships at sea do not sail directly into Jiaozhou Port when they arrive at Jiaozhou. Instead, they will first rely on Taiping Port by the sea, and then go along the Baiteng River and then through the Longjiang River to reach Jiaozhou Port.

In the past, most of the seagoing ships went to the Taiping River or went directly to Jiaozhou City from the Red River, but now those two rivers seem to be much deserted.

Taiping Port and Jiaozhou Port, one on the coast and one inland, complement each other and complement each other.Taiping Port is now a famous frost sugar manufacturing and trading center in Datang, as well as a cotton and cotton cloth trading center. There are also many good things such as salt and porcelain here, not to mention Hongji Port not far away, which is a Coal Harbor.

In the front is the Jin River, the back is on the Taiping River, and there is a Wu'an River that goes around the city. Ten miles to the east is the sea, and the Baiteng River and the Jin River converge into the sea in the northeast corner. This makes Taiping Port have unique transportation facilities. , In just a few years, Taiping City has expanded more than ten times.

Now the resident population exceeds [-] households. Although it is not as prosperous as Jiaozhou, Guangzhou, and Qinzhou, it is already many times more lively than Aizhou and Changzhou.

Especially the open atmosphere here has allowed Taiping Port to develop rapidly. From scratch, the planning here has been far-sighted and designed in advance, so although it is developing so fast now, it does not appear chaotic at all.

A few years ago, when Qin Lang first started planning, many people looked at the blueprints and thought that the planning was too scattered and too big. But now, everyone admires Qin Lang's vision. At that time, he had already calculated that he could develop so fast. In recent years, Taiping Port has become more and more substantial, and the planning of commercial areas, residential areas, workshop areas, wharf warehouse areas, etc. has become more and more reasonable and clever.

And the bustling commercial neighborhood in the city, the straight and wide streets, the pre-planned underground drainage system, and even the city's canals, artificial lakes, etc. all make the city look so young and full of vitality, and So comfortable.

Clean, tidy and hygienic.

There is a trash can every [-] steps, a public toilet every [-] steps, there are washbasins everywhere, and there are cleaners on every street. People have to sigh that Chang'an is not so clean, let alone the streets that can be seen everywhere. Trees, greenery, and flowers blooming everywhere.

Before entering the port, there is also a special pilot speedboat to pick you up.

Countless boats lined up in an orderly manner, Qin Lang refused the request to jump in line for him, but sat on the boat leisurely watching the lively scene.

"Are those Hu merchant's ships?" Qin Lang pointed to the distance.

"Hui Wei Gong said that these are indeed Hu merchants' ships. There were fewer Hu merchants for a while, but within two months, they gradually came again. Now there are more and more Hu merchants, which has already surpassed previous years. Quantity." An official in charge of escorting at the pier replied respectfully.

Before Qin Lang cracked down on the Guangming Sect and Eagle Nest, he also rectified many unruly Hu merchants. Many Hu merchants were panicked, but after waiting and watching for a while, they still came. Datang has countless goods they want. They also have countless goods to sell. Merchants are after all profit-seeking, and they can take risks for profit, not to mention that after observing, they found that there is no danger.

As long as the rules are followed, any businessman is welcome here.

"Why do those Hu merchants line up alone?"

"Datang has priority, and our merchant ships in Datang have priority, so these Hu merchants have to line up on the other side."

Qin Lang thought for a while, "This is not very good. If it is busy when entering the port, the Tang boat can be given priority, but if it is not too busy, it will still be treated equally."

"Is it the same for taxes?"

"The tax rate is the same, but Tang merchants can enjoy some subsidy returns, while Hu merchants do not."

"In this case, will there be Hu merchants who ask Han people to pretend to be ship owners and cargo owners?"

"We will severely crack down on this situation. Once discovered, they will be severely punished. They dare not."

Taiping Port somewhat discriminates against Hu merchants, but compared to other places, it is actually much stronger. For example, Taiping Port has also planned Fanfangfan City for Hu merchants to live and do business, but in general the tax rate is still the same. , the management is also more fair and just, there will be no random apportionment, but correspondingly, there will naturally be no special privileges, strict registration is required when entering Hong Kong, and barbarians are prohibited from owning weapons. Those who live must apply for a temporary residence permit, and the inspection is strict. If they fail to do so, they will be severely punished or even deported.

"Well, these are very good. The rules that should be adhered to should not be messed up. Taiping Port can have today's prosperity. These rules have also played a big role. Rules are order. Without order, how can there be a good business environment? We have attracted merchants, and we must stick to it in the future.”

"We all strictly follow the instructions of Duke Wei. All Hu merchants who enter Wu'an Prefecture, no matter where they come from, no matter what their original status, must strictly abide by the laws of my Tang Dynasty and the laws of Wu'an Prefecture. stipulated."

If you break the law, you must accept the Tang law trial, there is no barbarian.

Hu people can buy fields and land in Wu'an Prefecture, buy real estate and shops, open workshops, hire craftsmen, slaves, etc., and even marry wives and have children.

But according to the regulations of Wu'an Prefecture, if you want to buy land, purchase property, hire workers, slaves, maidservants, marry wives and have children, etc., there is a premise that you must be registered in Datang Wu'an Prefecture. If you don't, the land and properties they buy will have no permanent property rights, only five years Once the contract is renewed, a not-so-low deed tax must be paid.

If you are not naturalized, you cannot marry a woman from the Tang Dynasty, and you cannot take a woman from the Tang Dynasty as a concubine. You must be naturalized.After being naturalized, you will abandon your previous identity and become a citizen of the Tang Dynasty, and everything will be done according to the laws of the Tang Dynasty.

If those Hu merchants who are not naturalized die unexpectedly in Wu'an Prefecture, etc., if they have immediate family members who can inherit, they can inherit after paying an inheritance tax. If there is no immediate family member to claim the inheritance within three years, it will not be an official property.

Hu merchants without the backing of the Guangming Sect are now much more honest. After all, the last time they were cleaned, the Guangming Sect, the Eagle’s Nest, and many maritime merchants who came in disorderly, died a lot. There are still many air-dried corpses hanging at the Guangzhou pier. there.

Wu'an Prefecture has dealt with these blows even more severely.

Today's Hu merchants do business in their own right, and pay taxes honestly.

Hu merchants are not even allowed to set up business gangs or chambers of commerce following the example of Datang merchants. Whoever dares to do so will be severely warned. Their behavior will be suspected of serious violations and will be severely punished.

"There is no rule without rules. These Hu merchants come to us to make money, so naturally they have to be controlled by us, so keep going!" Qin Lang praised.

(End of this chapter)