Red Mansion Soldiers

Chapter 298 Departure

For this expedition, Jia Hui all chose cavalry.

It is divided into two parts. One part is the Beijing camp cavalry, which is well-equipped and well-trained. However, they have gone their separate ways over the years and there are not many old subordinates who have followed him in the Northern Expedition.

Jia Hui asked for 60,000, including 30,000 combat troops, including a total of 1,000 descendants of various families and more than 20,000 carefully selected elites from the Beijing camp, the kind who can mount a horse and act as cavalry and dismount as a heavy step.

The remaining 30,000 are support staff who can fight on horseback and cook on horseback. Anyone you pick has a few unique skills.

After all, you are going to engage in mobile warfare, and you cannot ride a horse. Even if you are a fire-fighting member of the Huotou Army, you must have good riding skills.

Not to mention craftsmen such as gunsmiths, gunsmiths, and carpenters.

Thanks to the horse administration inherited from Qianliang and carried forward by Taizu in Daqi, horses are not a very valuable thing to everyone these days. Not only do every household have one, but they are found in almost four or five households. There was a house with a horse.

In Jia Hui's view, their value is equivalent to that of domestic bicycles in the 1960s and 1970s.
They are rare and expensive, but not that rare or that expensive. A family with a serious job can save up for two or three years to buy one of the most common Mongolian horses.

It's cheap, sturdy, and versatile. It can survive on just a handful of grass. The main focus is cost-effectiveness.

Of course, horses such as Hequ horses, Yili horses and even Dawan horses are not easily affordable. These are still the choices of landlords and high-ranking officials.

Thanks to this, horse riding has naturally been a skill that can only be afforded by at least small landowner families, and has successfully spread to the people, becoming a thing that ordinary citizens and rural farmers can afford.

But the craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry, Ministry of War, and Beijing camp, who had both social status and financial resources, could easily afford this.

However, no matter how proficient in riding skills, Jia Hui will definitely not let these technicians go to the front line. Instead, they will follow Jia Hui as the coach as the rear guard of the Chinese army.

The other part is the absolute main force in this battle.
Jia Hui’s old subordinates, the elite cavalry of the Nine Sides!
In recent years, not only the Beijing army has benefited from the prosperity of Daqi, but the Jiubian army has also enjoyed more benefits than the Beijing army. Why?
Isn't it true that the two existing great governors were either born in Jiubian or made their fortune in Jiubian? Of course, good things should go to their hometowns.

Therefore, a year and a half ago, the entire Jiubian has completed the replacement of cloth armor, and it has been achieved to the extent that everyone has one suit.
They were uniformly dressed in black armor and red robes, standing there neatly and uniformly, which was very pleasing to the eye.

However, Jia Hui currently only has 60,000 Beijing troops, and the remaining 90,000 border troops no longer go to Luoyang to assemble, but directly assemble in Datong Town.

There is no way, it's not that Jia Hui doesn't want to go to Yulin Town and Ningxia Town, which are closer to the battlefield. It's just that Kansai suffered a drought this year and there was no harvest. Although there was disaster relief food from the court, it was not enough to feed so many people, and there was no way to supply the 150,000 expeditionary army.

God would not give him face, so Jia Hui could only choose to adjust the grain from Changpingcang in Shanxi, and then transport it with the recruited border troops, and assemble directly with the Beijing army in Datong Town.

Jia Hui, on the other hand, stayed in Taiyuan for a while to handle official duties before the army was assembled.

For example, receiving weapons and equipment from two war bureaus.

Preparing for a war is extremely troublesome. Even if Jia Hui has tried his best to reduce some of the burden, it still cannot be prepared in six or seven days.

The army marched out in a mighty and mighty manner, stretching for dozens of miles.

The people of Luoyang and the families of the army went out in costumes, and the flashy clothes they wore stood out against the crowd, as if the dyeing shop had gone bankrupt and splashed dye outside.

Everyone stood on both sides of the road, silently bidding farewell to Zheng Ren, but no one made any move.
Jia Hui, who was wearing a helmet and armor and riding a horse, immediately saw his family members standing on the carriage with the roof removed. Li Wan was wearing imperial makeup, and there were several crying children with snot bubbles coming out of their noses beside him.
They looked at each other speechlessly.

The years spent with childhood sweethearts are equivalent to being together as an old couple for nearly twenty years. There is no need to say anything more or do anything more. It is enough to just do your own thing with peace of mind.
Jia Hui fought for the country and strived for glory and wealth for his family.

Li Wan, the housekeeper, took good care of the family and children in the county government, so that Jia Hui had no worries outside.

One look is enough.

As usual, Jia Hui only brought his own soldiers with him to the expedition, but he did not bring any of the dead soldiers trained at home. Jia Hui gave all these dead soldiers to Tang Qi and the Oriole couple to take care of them.

The current atmosphere in the court is not right.

The emperor suddenly fainted in the middle of the night the day before yesterday.

There were no signs at all. At that time, the emperor was drinking wine and watching Orchid dancing. Others would just think that the emperor was drunk. If Dai Quan had not noticed that the emperor was not even snoring, he called the imperial doctor in time.
Since that day, Xiyuan has been under martial law.

Although the guards on the surface still looked relaxed and comfortable, when Jia Hui wanted to see the emperor yesterday, he was declined by a guard general of the emperor's army.

Realizing that something was wrong, Jia Hui hurriedly ran to Chen Si's palace. However, it was a bit scary. The palace and Jia Yuanchun had a baby in their belly. The family of four was actually summoned to Xiyuan last night.
The soldiers who were sent out to find out the news also brought back news. Not only Chen Si, but also Chen San, Chen Wu and Chen Qi were all summoned to Xiyuan.

If Dai Quan hadn't sent him the news later, he would have been unable to resist sending troops to surround Xiyuan.
He thought that someone was planning to blockade Xiyuan and start another massacre of the royal family!

Too scary!

In fact, not only himself, many important ministers were also frightened.

Ordinary officials did not necessarily see the emperor all year round, so they did not notice anything unusual. The purpose of blocking the news about Xiyuan was to prevent them from knowing.

But those Jiuqing and the chief governors who had to see the emperor every two days couldn't hide it no matter what.

When they reach this status, even if they don't take the initiative to spy on the news about Gong Wei, someone will take the initiative to tell them the news about Gong Wei.

If the emperor had not summoned the cabinet at Luoyang Palace yesterday afternoon and appeared at the Imperial Ancestral Temple today to appease the generals, otherwise all the civil and military officials in Luoyang would have gone crazy!
If the royal family disappears collectively, the world will really explode over time!
At that time, either Jia Hui will lead his troops into Xiyuan to find survivors, set up a puppet to maintain unity, and find a time to usurp the throne.

Or if you can't find anyone, take your whole family and all your hard-core confidants and return to Chang'an, the base camp of the Northwest Army, give up the Western Regions and fight with the Mengwu to conquer the world with your old brothers.
Fortunately, although no royal family except the emperor has left Xiyuan so far, the fact that everyone is alive is a sign of peace for the army.

At the very least, he has the 150,000-strong army in his hands for this expedition.

No matter what happens in the future, if I advance, I can go south to the Central Plains to seek the throne for a lifetime; if I retreat, I can wait for a price and sell it, tearing the earth apart and becoming the king.
At worst, they can still guarantee the separatist rule of the Western Kingdom.

But as a last resort, Jia Hui still didn't want to get into such a situation and let her nearly ten years of achievements in the first half of her life be in vain.
"Fourth brother, fourth brother, you can't lose your position!" Jia Hui turned to look to the southwest and muttered to himself
"Ah? Brother, what did you just say?" Niu Zhao, who was riding behind Jia Hui, looked at Jia Hui with a confused expression.

"It's okay," Jia Hui shook his head, "Have you given instructions to your family?" "Don't worry, brother, I sent the news back last night." Niu Zhao's expression became serious, "In case I leave The soldiers at home will take them out of the city, and no one will have to wait for them after they get out, they will go straight ahead without stopping."

"That's it, stop talking." Jia Hui lightly hit Niu Zhao with the riding crop in her hand.

Niu Zhao also knew that he was talking too much and kept silent.

With his warrior's intuition, Niu Zhao is still uneasy.

The brothers had already discussed it yesterday. If anything happens in Xiyuan, no one would have to worry about others. They would send their wives, children, and children to Tongguan first, and then they would get together.
General Tongguan is Jia Hui's old subordinate. He performed well during the battle against Bailian. He was the first to blow up Zhenjiang City and was awarded the fourth-grade martial arts medal for Ning Zhe.

With his background as an old water worker and the dual certification of Jia Hui's former subordinates, this boy has been successful in his career in recent years and has become a senior military general leading an army.

The most important thing is that this kid has a clear mind and knows who is good to him, so Jia Hui is relieved to let him guard Tongguan.

All the escape routes have been arranged. If something goes wrong, even these means will not come in handy.
Then we can only accept our fate.

"Let's go, nothing will happen."

"it is good."

. . . . . .

Since everyone was riding horses and we were in the country, there was no pressure on supplies. In addition to the supplies that the craftsmen carried with them, and because the distance was so close, we carried three days' worth of dry food with us.
All the prefectures and counties along the way are ready.

In just three days, 60,000 troops had already marched to Taiyuan.

Jia Hui will stay here for a while, waiting for the food from Shanxi to arrive, and then he will go to Datong with the last wave of food.

Further supplies will be transported from Dongduji (Shandong) and Hebei.

“Shanxi doesn’t have much grain reserves.”

Taiyuan City, Shanxi General Military Office.

Jia Hui, with his golden sword, sat on the main seat, while the Shanxi general and the governor stood respectfully aside.

"This Lieutenant, Kansai suffered a disaster this year, and the first batch of people to transport food to Kansai were Duji (Henan) and our Shanxi." The governor was also a little helpless.

Different from the previous life, the cultivated land in Shanxi in this life has not been destroyed by horse racing and other enclosures. Although it is indeed much weaker than the fertile soil that raised Han, Zhao and Wei, it can still serve as the foundation for kings and hegemons. .

"Lieutenant, in the past, three months of food for an army of 150,000 was a piece of cake for me in Shanxi, but..."

"Okay, you don't need to say anything." Jia Hui stopped the governor's misfortune. Under the governor's slightly resentful eyes, Jia Hui put down the account book.

"I know that you are in trouble, and the imperial court is very understanding and considerate of you. You also know how much tax reduction and exemption it has given you this year. However, this year has been troubled, with the drought in Kansai and the invasion of Junggar. The local government must also be considerate of the imperial court. The difficulty."

The governor felt a thump in his heart, feeling that things were about to get worse.
"What did I say before?" Jia Hui stretched out her finger and tapped the ledger.

"I asked your Shanxi governor's office to collect enough food for three months before the army enters Shanxi. Even if the missing food is not in hand now, you must write down where to get it from and when it will be delivered. ,What is this written?”

Snapped!
"With such a small amount of food, a fucking army of 150,000 people can barely feed it for two months. You want them to drink the northwest wind and go to war with the rest?"

"No, Lieutenant, it's just." The governor's anxious forehead began to sweat.

"It's just bullshit!" Jia Hui sneered, "Let me tell you, this is not an order from the cabinet or the six ministries. You can't even finish the bargaining. Listen carefully, this is a military order!"

The military order is like a mountain!

If you don't do it right, Captain Jia will really kill someone!

Feeling the murderous intent in the Taiwei's words, the governor was too shocked to speak.
He was a Jinshi who passed the examination smoothly. Before today, at most he was the prefect when he was surrounded by rioting and unscrupulous people. How had he ever experienced this?
"Lieutenant." The governor still wanted to struggle.
"Huh!" Jia Hui snorted coldly, ignored the governor, flicked his sleeves and strode out of the General Military Yamen.

Seeing the Taiwei walking away, the despair in the governor's eyes grew more and more
He was originally timid, but now that he was so frightened by Jia Hui, he started crying.

"Cough cough!"

The Shanxi general soldier who had been standing next to the governor watching the excitement couldn't stand it anymore: "Old Zhang, it doesn't have to be like this."

To be honest, the governor of Shanxi actually has a pretty good personality. He usually does practical things and has a good official reputation. Otherwise, he wouldn't have appeased the mob when he was the prefect.
He is too soft-tempered and always thinks about how well you are doing and how everyone is doing. He does the same thing and tries his best to find a balance between the government, the gentry and the head of Guizhou. Everyone is convinced by him.

This is a great advantage in normal times, but it is different now. What the Taiwei issued before was a military order!

"I regret that I didn't listen to Brother Guo's good advice!" Governor Zhang cried so hard that everyone who heard it cried, and everyone who heard it was sad.

When the text was sent from Luoyang some time ago, Shanxi Commander-in-Chief Lao Guo had already told him to pay attention to it, and he wholeheartedly agreed, but when he was looking through the province's grain inventory list, he probably forgot about it. After calculating how long he could support a 150,000-strong man, he fell into negativity and avoidance.
In fact, there is still a lot of grain if you dig around in Shanxi. If nothing else, Shanxi merchants these days all make their fortunes by transporting grain to Jiubian. Which one doesn't run a few grain shops?

But the gentle-tempered and somewhat face-conscious Governor Zhang really couldn't bear to make excuses with those businessmen, and he didn't want to offend them for nothing, so he thought of collecting as much as he could first, and when the lieutenant came, seeing how hard he had worked so hard, he would tell the matter to him. Fool the past
"Oh, okay!" Mr. Guo reached out and grabbed the governor's collar and lifted him up, staring into his eyes impatiently: "It's useless to talk about regrets now? I told you it was a military order. Military order! Do you think it’s a formal document from the cabinet and you can get away with it?”

"Then what should we do?" Governor Zhang grabbed Lao Guo's sleeve as if grasping a life-saving straw.

"Stupid!" Lao Guo cursed, "You are a Jinshi from Anhui, and you are not a native of Shanxi. You are afraid of such a tough Shanxi merchant!

The lieutenant didn't hold you down on the spot, just to give you a chance to make up for your mistakes. If you don't seize the opportunity to save yourself now, will you regret it when the steel knife hits your neck? "

"That's that." Governor Zhang's mind was already full of paste at this time, and he couldn't react to anything.
"Then, that, that ghost! Go to Huohuo Shanxi Business!"

Lao Guo's words hit Governor Zhang on the head like a stick, giving him a wake-up call!
"Ah! Yes, yes, these Jin Laoxi guys are rich, very rich!" Governor Zhang's eyes gradually regained his clarity. He broke away from Lao Guo's hand and staggered towards the street. .
(End of this chapter)