Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 843 Ganzhou
"Merger of large households?" Liu Peiji was stunned when he heard this. At that time, the land system of the Tang Dynasty was still the land grant system, that is, men received land from the state when they came of age, part of it was returned when they were over sixty years old, and the rest was returned after their death. In other words, except for Yongye Field, farmers only have the right to use the land they cultivate, but have no ownership rights, let alone buying and selling. It is theoretically impossible for large households to annex land.

Of course, theory is one thing and practice is another. Even in the early Tang Dynasty, it was very common for wealthy families and local powerful people to annex peasant farmers. But it is one thing to be common, and the attitude of government officials is another. At least on the surface, officials in the Tang Dynasty are still opposed to land annexation. There are not many people like Wang Wenzuo who openly support the annexation of large households.

"General, the world is prone to chaos and chaos, so I thought we should proceed with caution!"

Hearing that Liu Peiji had been holding back for a long time before saying this, Wang Wenzuo laughed: "It's only when some people don't have fields that there will be chaos. There is so much land in Haidong that no one is cultivating, how can there be chaos?"

"Haidong is Haidong, and Henan is Henan. They are thousands of miles apart!" Liu Peiji said with a wry smile: "General, ordinary people are not soldiers. They have children and old parents. It is troublesome to go to neighboring states and counties. Very, not to mention Haidong! How could you, a smart person like you, not understand this?"

"You don't need to worry about this. As long as the hungry people can go to Hebei to get food, the rest is my business!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Cangzhou is connected to the canal by water, and ships are transshipped, so there is nothing to worry about. If you don't believe it, We can first transport two to three thousand people to Hebei for food."

Seeing Wang Wenzuo's confident look, Liu Peiji finally nodded helplessly: "If that's the case, then I can only obey your order. General, please consider it again and again, otherwise my little reputation will be ruined by this matter."

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In Ganzhou, there is a big fight to pull out the valley and beacon fire.

This was the third time that Ho Mo looked down at the stairs, but he still didn't see the person who took over his vigil. It was raining in the sky, and even though he was wearing a sheepskin robe and leather hood, he still felt waves of cold air penetrate into his bones, making his heart feel chilly.

He knows very well that the early spring rain in Ganzhou is sometimes more terrible than the winter snow. As long as you have a leather cloak and hat, you can block the snow, but the spring rain is different. It will penetrate into the sheepskin and cloth silently, and turn into In your bones. If you don't dry yourself off quickly, drink a large glass of warm wine, warm your feet, and get some sleep. You will tremble, your teeth will chatter, you will cough violently, and thick phlegm and blood will flow from your mouth as if it is your life!
After another half an hour, Hou Mo finally heard footsteps from below. He perked up and shouted down the stairs: "Liu Wu, you bastard are late again, at least two quarters of an hour late!" "

"You're so late!" A lazy voice came from below: "You kid, don't make false accusations!" A half-bald head popped up from under the ladder: "Luckily, I brought you some hot soup. Come on, I wouldn’t have brought it to you if I had known better!”

"There is hot soup, why didn't you tell me earlier!" Hou Mo took the pottery pot from his companion in surprise, drank two sips, and exhaled a long breath of pleasure: "It's so comfortable, mother, I've been raining here for a long time, It’s freezing inside and out!”

"Okay, stop talking nonsense!" Liu Wu shouted: "Go down and have a rest! Remember to replace me tomorrow morning, don't forget!"

Hou Mo responded, took off his sheepskin robe and hood and handed them to Liu Wu. He walked to the stairs and suddenly stopped halfway in. A cold wind blew through the forest, and his clothes shook behind him. It seems to be alive.

"What's going on?" Liu Wu asked, "Why don't you go down? You don't want to go back?"

"Something's wrong!" Hou Mo muttered.

"It's you who's wrong!" Liu Wu smiled contemptuously: "If you still don't want to leave, just stay and watch the night, and I'll go back to sleep instead!"

"Didn't you hear it?" Hou Mo asked: "Calm down and listen carefully to the sound behind the sound of wind and rain!"

Liu Wu's smile disappeared, and he also felt that under the cover of the sound of wind and rain, there was another sound, which was the sound of stepping on dead branches and leaves. In the five years he has been on duty as a police officer in Ganzhou, he has never been so scared. What is behind this?
"Ti, Tibetan thieves!" Liu Wu's voice was shaking as hard as his body. There was only one possibility for appearing here at this time - and that was Tibetan attackers.

"Quickly, raise the fire and warn the guards of the city!" Hou Mo rushed to the wall, lifted up the reed mat, revealing a pile of dry reeds soaked in fish oil underneath, then took out a fire sickle and flint from his waist, and knocked hard stand up. At this time, Liu Wu could clearly hear the shouts of death and screams coming from downstairs. Apparently, the Tibetan attackers had rushed into the lower level of the beacon, where the soldiers guarding the beacon and their families lived. Hearing the screams of his wife and family, Liu Wu gritted his teeth and picked up the spear leaning against the wall. However, he did not rush down. Instead, he straightened the tip of the spear and pointed it at the exit of the stairs.

Perhaps it was because of the humid weather on the rainy day that Hou Mo struck the flint seven or eight times without lighting the dry reed soaked in fish oil underneath. At this time, he heard a shrill scream from behind him, and turned around subconsciously, only to see Liu Wu pulling out a spear from the chest of a Tibetan soldier. Liu Wu heard the movement behind him and shouted sternly: "Don't worry about this, hurry up. Raise the fire!"

"Hey!" Hou Mo turned around and struck the flint quickly. At this time, the place below had calmed down. He knew what this meant. Tears flowed from his eyes. He struck the flint with all his strength, and finally there were sparks. It flew out and landed on the dry reeds soaked in fish oil below. The flames suddenly jumped up. He blew twice in ecstasy, and then put the pine firewood piled next to him one by one. The fireworks rushed out of the top of the beacon and straight into the sky. .

"Liu Wu, the fire is up. Just hold on for a while and I'll help you right away!" Hou Mo shouted loudly while fanning the fire with all his strength. Suddenly, a familiar scream came from behind him. He quickly turned around, I saw Liu Wu kneeling on the ground in pain, with a pool of blood at his feet. A Tubo warrior whose whole body was almost completely wrapped in steel was climbing up from the stairs, holding a short double-pointed spear in his hand, with the tip of the spear stained with blood. of blood.

"Your mother!" It was as if a bomb exploded in Ho Mo's head. He roared angrily and rushed towards the Tubo warrior. The Tubo warrior skillfully aimed the tip of his spear at Ho Mo, but Ho Mo didn't seem to have any intention at all. Seeing the tip of the spear, he rushed forward. The tip of the spear immediately pierced his lower abdomen, but the huge momentum also threw the Tibetan warrior to the ground. The two rolled into a ball, and then broke the railing and escaped from the beacon tower. Fell down.

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Zhangye City (Ganzhou Administrative Office).

"Prefect, Prefect! Prefect, something bad has happened!" The rapid knocking and shouting woke Zhang Quanwen from his sleep. He opened the white arms wrapped around his neck and jumped out of bed: "What's the matter? "

"Fengsui, Fengsui is on fire!"

The sound outside the door immediately drove away Zhang Quanwen's sleepiness. He took off the saber hanging on the wall with one hand, picked up his coat with the other, and shouted while dressing: "That beacon over there, how much fire did it raise? "

"It's the southwest direction!" The voice of the servant outside the door was also very urgent: "I don't know how many fires were fired!"

"Useless thing!" Zhang Quanwen scolded. He quickly put on his clothes and shoes with the help of his concubine and went out. No wonder he was so angry. According to the beacon system at that time, beacons could not only convey the enemy's direction, but also get out of the house. The road can still pass through the beacon fire, and the approximate number of enemy soldiers can be reported. However, one thing is certain, the situation encountered by the beacon fire must be very critical, otherwise it would not be like this. He went to the backyard stable to get on his horse, and then headed toward the west gate from the backyard gate.

When he arrived at the west gate, he had already seen Zhangye County Lieutenant and Zhechong Colonel of Ganzhou Military Mansion commanding the civilians to reinforce the city gate and move arrows, rolling stones and other defensive equipment up to the city. Zhang Quanwen hurriedly asked: "Captain Cao, what's going on? Isn't the Qilian Mountains in the southwest? How come there are enemy soldiers coming from that way!"

"Report to the Governor!" Cao Gang is the captain of the local military office, and his surname is Cao, a wealthy family who has lived here for generations. He knows the local situation in Ganzhou very well. At this time, his face is extremely ugly: "There is indeed a place in the southwest. The Qilian Mountains, but there is a valley over there. Through that valley, you can cross the Qilian Mountains and go to Qinghai. When Emperor Yang of the previous dynasty conquered Tuyuhun, he came to Ganzhou through that valley and then returned to Chang'an! "

"Difficult, could it be that the Tubo people came here to kill them?" Zhang Quanyi also understood. As an important city in the Hexi Corridor, Zhangye is not only the passage connecting Shaanxi and the Western Regions, but also spans the Qilian Mountains and is also located in the valley road connecting the Qinghai region and the Hexi Corridor. within its territory. Of course, the difficulty of passing through this valley road cannot be compared with the Hexi Corridor. If the Tibetans cross the valley road and control Ganzhou, it will be equivalent to cutting off the nearest road from Chang'an to the Western Regions.

"I also hope that's not the case! But if the bandits come from the southwest, then the Tubo people are the most likely!" Cao Gang said coldly: "The governor, I think we should send an envoy to Guazhou immediately to ask for help. There must be no delay! "

"Well, you're right, send someone to Guazhou immediately to ask for help!" Zhang Quanwen said coldly: "Ganzhou is the key to Hexi. There must be no mistakes. Come, men above sixteen and below forty in the city. Ding immediately recruited them and incorporated them into the army; the rest, old and weak, women and children, guarded the dishes and forged weapons in case the thieves attacked the city!"

"Follow the order!"

The news that the Tibetan army in Qinghai crossed the Qilian Mountains and raided Ganzhou was like a finger that plucked the most sensitive string in the political center of the Tang Empire. In the spring of 680 AD, the Tubo people were already the only rival enemy within sight of the Tang Empire. More importantly, the pain of the defeat of Dafeichuan was still fresh in the hearts of many Tang people. Could it be that the empire had been humiliated again? A group of barbarians, will they lose control of the Silk Road that brought huge profits to Chang'an?
Longyou.

"Pei Gong, we must send troops immediately, the sooner the better!" The speaker was a red-faced man with a thick beard. He said with anger: "Ganzhou is the key to Hexi. Once it is lost, not only Chang'an will lead to the Western Regions" The road is cut off, and Longyou will be attacked from both sides. If the Tibetan thieves unite with the Turkic rebels, there will be no peace in the northwest of the Tang Dynasty! "

Pei Xingjian's expression did not change, but he calmly observed the map on the wall. After a while, he said: "Captain Cheng, the Tibetan thieves used their troops very dangerously this time!"

The red-faced man's surname was Cheng Mingwuting. He was the son of Cheng Mingzhen, a famous general in the early Tang Dynasty. He was always famous for his decisiveness and bravery. He immediately understood the meaning behind Pei Xingjian's words: "Pei Gong means that the Tibetan thieves have an opportunity to take advantage of this?"

"Well!" Pei Xingjian stretched out his finger and scratched the place marking the Qilian Mountains: "The Tibetan thieves took advantage of the danger to attack me. Although they caught me off guard, the valley roads in the mountains travel for two to three hundred miles, and their soldiers will not be able to fight again in one day. To eat, you can advance but not retreat. This is a dead soldier and cannot be used as the front line!"

"What does Mr. Pei mean?" Cheng Wuting asked.

"The city of Ganzhou is strong, with tens of thousands of household registrations, and sufficient treasury. As long as the people in the city are not in chaos, the Tibetan thieves will not be able to attack in a hurry!" Pei Xingjian said: "So the rescue must be done, otherwise the soldiers in the city will think there is no rescue. That would be bad. But the Tibetan thieves are very sharp and have the will to die. Don’t treat them as sharp!”

"Pei Gong means to first use troops as support to calm the hearts of the defenders in the city, and then attack the Tibetan thieves when they are blunt?"

Pei Xingjian finally showed a smile on his face: "It is the great fortune of the Tang Dynasty that Governor Cheng learned the art of war!"

After a brief military meeting, the Tang army on the right side of Longyou took action immediately. The right leader Wei Zhonglang, General Cheng Wuting, sent 4,000 reinforcements as the main general. However, Cheng Wuting changed his past decisive and quick style, and the marching speed was not very fast. After he arrived near Ganzhou, he did not immediately launch an attack to relieve Ganzhou. Instead, he built forts first and at the same time sent out cavalry to attack the small groups of Tibetan grain and firewood collectors. The situation became deadlocked.

In Chang'an, the political core of the Tang Dynasty, this sudden war also attracted Wang Wenzuo's attention. He realized that the long-awaited opportunity to defeat the Tubo people finally appeared. He immediately invited the other two members of the Three Heads to discuss the future. strategy.

"General, do you think the time has come to destroy Tubo?" Zhang Wenguan asked.

"Well!" Wang Wenzuo nodded: "If we do well, I believe it won't be far!"

"Hahaha!" King Han laughed: "This is the first time I have seen the general be so decisive!"

"His Royal Highness the King of Han!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "The advantages of Tubo are simply that its soldiers are hard-working, tenacious and resistant to war, their armor is strong, their generals are useful, and they live in dangerous places. Their weaknesses are that the king is weak and the ministers are strong, the household registration is sparse, and the treasury is If he holds on to Qinghai and encroaches on Longyou, it will not be so easy to deal with him. But if he takes the risk to attack Hexi, he will be seeking his own death! "