Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 326 People are doing it, God is watching

It has been raining on and off for several days, and it finally stopped today.

To Ji Ge's surprise, Fang Youde did not lead his troops back to the Shence Army camp north of Liquan County. However, he was very considerate and sent people from Lantian County south of Chang'an to mobilize the Shence Army troops guarding the southern node of Chang'an to meet at the Shence Army camp on the Liquan side to protect Brother Ji's safety.

Except for the day of departure, when Fang Youde sent someone to reply to Brother Ji, saying that he had led troops to the outskirts of Jingyang, there was no news at other times.

Several days passed, and Brother Ji felt like his days were like years in the camp. Since Gao Lishi was in charge of the overall situation in Chang'an and had to monitor Li Linfu's administration, Ji Ge was served by two eunuchs, Bian Lingcheng and Yu Chaoen, who were not as considerate as Gao Lishi.

This couldn't help but make Brother Ji more and more irritable. He paced back and forth in the handsome tent every day like an ant on a hot pot, but he didn't dare to leave the handsome tent.

Early that morning, Brother Ji finally couldn't hold himself back anymore and summoned a commander of the Shence Army, the one Fang Youde had transferred from Lantian County, to ask him about the military situation.

This capital commander's name was Lu Jiong, who was more than seven feet tall. He was born in a general and became an official in the shadow of his family. He was a close confidant of Fang Youde who had been promoted from Youzhou and recommended to be an official in the Shence Army. When Fang Youde transferred him to Liquan this time, he did not say that the emperor was in the army.

However, Lu Jiong, who has a keen sense of politics, has already noticed that something fishy is going on, and guesses that Brother Ji is likely to be in the headquarters of the Shence Army. Being summoned now was just a confirmation of his prediction, so Lu Jiong looked calm and did not show any surprise.

"Where is General Fang now?"

The emperor personally commanded?

"The last general, Lu Jiong, will obey the orders of the sage."

Before Lu Jiong finished speaking, he saw Brother Ji pull out a sword from the weapon rack in the handsome tent and put it on Lu Jiong's shoulder.

Unfortunately, when Brother Ji gathered the military power of the Shence Army and decided to send the entire army to Jingyang. The sky cleared up, and a scorching sun rose in the sky, sweeping away the previous haze.

The sun came out and victory was about to come. Brother Ji's heart suddenly exploded with confidence. The pride of being a charioteer when he was young came back to his heart, and even his bones felt a little lighter.

Brother Ji suddenly forgot the name of the commander of the Shence Army in front of him.

As expected, the emperor didn't even remember his own name!
"I order you to set up camp now and go to the Shence Army camp north of Jingyang County to station."

He also told him that no matter what happened, he must not go to Jingyang, where the Zheng Guo Canal was opened, saying that there was a high possibility of flash floods there after heavy rains.

In fact, this is not the only number of soldiers and horses that can be dispatched in Chang'an City. For example, the Sixteenth Guards of Nanya could gather thousands of people. In extreme cases, there are tens of thousands of private armies, generals, slaves, etc. in the homes of powerful people.

It is also possible to mobilize the Shence Army scattered around, and it is no problem to gather 10,000 people. After all, the Shence Army now has a strength of more than 20,000.

Brother Ji shouted outside the handsome tent.

"Back to the saint, the generals are not allowed to pry into the secrets in the army. General Fang did not tell him where he was going, and the generals don't know either.

Brother Ji suddenly made up his mind and gritted his teeth.

"Sage, General Fang is leading the infantry. Pizhou is more than a hundred miles away from here. It will take four or five days to march back and forth. Please wait patiently, sage."

This made him feel that he was indeed the chosen one, and even God was on his side.

After Lu Jiong was taken down, Brother Ji said to Yu Chaoen: "Call the two remaining commanders of the Shence Army in the camp! I want to question them!"

Brother Ji sighed impatiently. He was not worried about Fang Youde defecting to the prince, but worried that the other party would not be able to put down the rebellion in Pizhou.

"Yu Chaoen! Capture this person and deal with him after the war!"

Brother Ji paced back and forth and sighed again, feeling like he could do nothing now. The kind of frustration made him feel like he was shaking his fist at running water.

Lu Jiong knelt on the ground and refused to get up.

Lu Jiong answered cautiously.

Although Lu Jiong is neatly dressed, he has a family, parents, brothers, wife, sons and daughters. The emperor became fierce, and Lu Jiong couldn't resist him. Even if he was a so-called "saint" like a bad old man, he could beat ten of them in one breath!
"A saint can kill the general, but he must not go to Jingyang!"

Without heavy rain, there would be no "flood trouble" in Jingshui River. There are only thousands of Khitan slaves, what kind of trouble can I make, the advantage is mine! The elite Shence army is on the move, but there is still a lot of trouble!

Of course, Brother Ji led Lu Jiong's original troops to the rear, and the Shence Army from the other two capitals took the lead. Although he was furious, Ji Ge still had a basic sense of self-preservation.

Lu Jiong persuaded Brother Ji.

As a result, the emperor insists on going now, what can he do?
"You can't be a saint, there is..."

Lu Jiong replied expressionlessly, feeling extremely fed up.

……

But in my humble opinion, General Fang should be heading towards Pizhou. "

It's just a group of Khitan slaves, does it take so long? Is the war going badly ahead?

"You haven't come back yet..."

After a moment of burning incense, the other two Shence Army commanders were brought in. Under the coercion of the emperor, they did not persist like Lu Jiong, but had no choice but to agree to lead troops to Jingyang. Then he planned to rest there for a while before setting out with the whole army to attack Pizhou along the Jing River.

"I understand. What I understand is that the journey is a bit long."

The depression and helplessness these days have left him with a lot of anger that needs to be vented.

Do you want to reward people based on their merits? Do you want to give some sweeteners to some people? Will it inspire some people's ambitions?
Brother Ji had many questions and concerns in his mind, and he did not dare to rashly magnify the impact of a small matter. To put it simply, I don’t want too many people to get involved in this matter!
"You are Lu..."

After a while, the eunuch Yu Chaoen took several imperial soldiers of the Qianniu Guards and took Lu Jiong down, and found the fish charm of the Shence Army from his body.

Brother Ji asked with red eyes.

Lu Jiong was startled and didn't know whether to accept this order or not. He believed in Fang Youde's commanding ability, but he didn't believe in the level of the "sage" in front of him!
Fang Youde strictly prohibited him from leaving Liquan County, and he made the reason very clear: this place can be attacked, retreated and defended. It is not only close to the water source but also has no worries about flash floods. Behind it is Liquan County where he can retreat.

Brother Ji asked in a deep voice.

However, the example of the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty is before us. When fighting rebellion, more troops and horses are not always better. After taking care of these Khitan slaves, what should we do next?

"I am the lord of the world, why can't I mobilize the Shence Army? Are you going to rebel? Aren't you afraid that I will punish your nine tribes?"

There was a long queue at the city gate of Luocheng, Shazhou, Hexi Province, winding from the city gate to the river bank, so dense that it was impossible to see the end.

The family members of Doulujun in Shazhou do not have Han household registration, nor do they belong to the tribes near Hurencheng. Almost every Huren family living in Luocheng has someone queuing up here, waiting for naturalization.

After today, they will be registered as Han residents, formally registered as residents, and no longer have "dual identities."

Yes, these people are basically the remnants of the Tuyuhun tribe. After Tuyuhun was destroyed, its people were divided into two parts by Tang Dynasty and Tubo. On the Tang Dynasty side, most of them were placed in Shazhou, and based on this, they formed the "Dulu Army". A small number were placed in Guazhou and formed the "Moli Army".

On the Tubo side, Sun Poru joined the Supi District and later became independent.

The identity of these people has always been very subtle. They are not like the nine surnames of Zhaowu who were already on board when the Tang Dynasty was founded, and have already broken through the political ceiling. It is not like the Turks and Tiele tribes who were placed separately as tribes near the city.

When they settled in Shazhou, they were military households and made a living by farming. Nowadays, many people have changed their Chinese names, speak Chinese, and it is no longer possible to tell whether they are Han or not by looking at their appearance.

However, the Tang Dynasty has always been very ambiguous about the political status of these people, and they have not officially settled down. They are still managed in two separate systems from the Han people in Shazhou.

This has created a lot of unnecessary trouble for the daily government management of border towns.

In fact, it was not that the Tang government did not want to rectify the situation, but that the cost of governance was too high and uneconomical. In Shazhou and Guazhou, the westernmost areas of the Hexi Corridor, the garrison troops were divided into the Doulu Army and the Moli Army. They were originally border troops organized by immigrants from Tuyuhun. Now, decades have passed, they have intermarried with each other, and many Han people from Guanzhong have joined, so identity positioning can no longer be used to "one size fits all".

Because the ties between these Han people in Guanzhong and their original families were actually cut off and became part of the border town household registration, this can also be regarded as a legacy of the reform of the military system.

It can be said that it is still chaos after cutting.

Before departure, in order to implement his "Datang Green Card" policy, Fang Chongyong took a special trip to his hometown of Shazhou with three thousand silver spears and the Xiaojie Army, and directly organized household registration and resettlement of the people outside Luocheng, in front of all Shazhou People's face, open and transparent settlement procedures.

Cut the mess with a sharp knife! Let no rumors related to it survive!
As long as your family served in the Doulu Army, or someone has served in the army, your family will be directly registered as a Han citizen. From now on, everyone will speak Chinese, wear Hanfu, and be taxed uniformly without distinction.

"Fang Jieshuai, you are really popular in Shazhou. I never dared to think about it before."

Next to the "household registration" stall, He Changqi saw that everyone who had completed the household registration would come up to Fang Chongyong and bow to say hello, and said with emotion.

When I followed Fang Chongyong to Shazhou, I found that the atmosphere here was completely different. They felt like they were home and were particularly welcome. Of course, these are all thanks to Fang Chongyong.

“If you are not worried about our logistics being blocked when we go to the Western Region, then it doesn’t matter what we do in Shazhou.

If you are still worried about logistical supplies, then you must be kind to the people in Shazhou and Guazhou.

Because once these two states are in chaos, the connection between the Western Region and Guanzhong will be severed.

By that time, even if you can defeat a hundred people by yourself, you will starve to death if you have no food and no luggage. "

Fang Chongyong said with a smile. After saying that, he shook hands with the person who had just finished applying for household registration and exchanged greetings with him, as if he was very familiar with him.

In fact, he had never seen the person in front of him at all.

The Shazhou household registration issue that the Tang Dynasty could not solve for decades, or rather deliberately did not want to solve, was solved by Fang Chongyong with one stroke!
It seems simple, but it is not.

Solving this problem requires vision, courage, and the courage to take responsibility.

In Fang Chongyong's view, the imperial court's little ambition was obvious. Isn't it just a sinister attempt to consume these Tuyuhun remnants as consumables, just like the soldiers of the border town, the more they are drawn, the weaker they become.

It is a bit unrealistic to expect these bureaucrats to handle problems from the perspective of the "united front" of the "Chinese nation". This is caused by historical limitations. There is nothing wrong with my mind, but my vision is not that far-reaching.

Of course, Fang Chongyong felt that if there had been no Anshi Rebellion in his previous life, the Tang Dynasty would have been prosperous for another fifty years. Maybe this "killing with a borrowed knife" would have really succeeded.

Unfortunately, the Anshi Rebellion came.

The choice of these remnants of Tuyuhun in Hexi Province was obvious. The Doulu Army in Shazhou and the Moli Army in Guazhou both clearly refused to follow the Chishui Army to march into Guanzhong to "face the national disaster together." The two armies returned to Shazhou to protect themselves, and formed a Tang army of 20,000 people. They persisted in Shazhou for many years without surrendering.

Although they did not want to be slaves to the Tubo people, they did not want to protect Ji Ge's Li Tang court. Although they recognized their identity as "Han people", they did not so much recognize the rule of the Li and Tang dynasties.

This is the people's will and public opinion. It can be said that you will reap what you sow.

While Fang Chongyong was chatting with He Changqi, a young Tang Army officer came to ask for an audience. It was Yan Chao, a son of a wealthy local Han family in Shazhou who had adopted Duan Xiushi!

"Shuai Fang, General Yan Chao of the Doulu Army would like to say hello to you. I have something to ask of you."

Yan Zhongyong cupped his fists and saluted the other party.

"Are you here to join the expeditionary force?"

Fang Chongyong asked indifferently.

"Yes, I want to take my Ding family generals into the Anxi Expeditionary Force and follow Commander Fang Jie's saddle to the Western Regions.

Achievements are made, and corpses are wrapped in horse leather. "

Yan Chao requested with excitement on his face.

Seeing that Fang Chongyong remained silent, Yan Chao continued to add: "In addition to the last general, there are many people in Shazhou who want to lead horses for Commander Jie and go to the Western Regions to strive for a future."

Sure enough, what we fight in war is the human heart! If you stand on the side of people's hearts, you don't have to worry about soldiers at all.

Fang Chongyong sighed in his heart, but his face was calm. He held Yan Chao's hands and said, "Okay, then you go and tell them that the commander of this section is going to lead my good men of the Tang Dynasty to fight on the battlefield and establish immortal achievements." It’s not about being more, it’s about being good. The staff is limited, so let them quickly find the coach of this section.”

"Don't worry, they are all people you have met and know everything about them."

Yan Chao said calmly.

"Go ahead, I can rest assured that you can do the work."

Fang Chongyong patted Yan Chao's shoulder and said.

The move of reorganizing the family members of the Doulu Army into a unified household is to win over the hearts and minds of the grassroots people in Shazhou; while allowing the children of Shazhou's wealthy families to join the army in the expedition to the Western Regions is to win over the hearts and minds of the high-level people in Shazhou. With such preparations, if something happens in the future, there will still be a stronghold in Shazhou to restore health.

Among those who know how to play politics, Fang Chongyong is the most capable.

Among the group of people who are most capable of fighting, Fang Chongyong is the one who is best at playing politics.

The power of his super comprehensive quality is undoubtedly evident here in Shazhou. Whether it is a local big business in Shazhou, the government, or the Doulu army, Fang Chongyong can basically keep his word.

"Commander Jie, this trick of reorganizing the Doulu army into a household with the people is so effective, why didn't the previous governors do it?"

After Yan Chao left, He Changqi asked without knowing why.

"Because there is no benefit in doing it, and you have to bear the responsibility if something happens.

If it were you, would you do it? "

Fang Chungyong waved his hand and asked. In fact, this move was not within the scope of the Hexi Jiedushi's responsibilities. It was an "overstep operation" and would be punished if found out.

If he was just the governor of Shazhou and organized households for the Doulu army and all the people, doing so would only create trouble for himself. Even if it was beneficial, it would only be indirect and long-term.

As the army is about to go on an expedition, stabilizing the rear is the most important thing.

Of course, such a convenient and inexpensive matter as household registration is handled "conveniently", allowing the people of Hexi to see their courage and means of doing things. Even if something happens, it will be in the future and we will talk about it then.

Of course, the court has always only looked at the results and not at the process of implementing the rules. If Fang Chongyong led his troops to sweep through the Western Regions, then his shit would be delicious, and his operations in Shazhou would not be worth mentioning.

If he loses, he will probably become a corpse in the desert of the Western Region, so naturally he doesn't have to worry about such nonsense.

In short, all in order to win, Bian Zhen will only obey the strong.

"Tonight, our commander is having a banquet with a big local businessman in Shazhou. You will also attend. We need to get some supplies for the expeditionary army. It is unrealistic to rely on Chang'an for everything."

Fang Chongyong looked at the small fortified city across the river from Luocheng and said with squinted eyes.

It's time to issue some national debt or something. It would be a pity not to use the food piled in the treasury.

Fang Chongyong thought secretly in his heart.

(End of this chapter)