Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 339 No organization and no discipline
Under the stands, the Yiwu army's three hundred mounted infantrymen began to dismount and form a formation when they were within three arrows of the opponent's cavalry. This is a pre-battle drill to simulate mounted infantry being ambushed by enemy cavalry.

However, before the formation of the infantry of the Yiwu army was in full formation, the cavalry of the Yinqian Xiaojie army rushed in regardless of all odds. Both sides were holding wooden sticks and were going back and forth between each other. The cavalry lost speed, and the cavalry of the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army simply dismounted and fought on foot.

Smoke and dust suddenly filled the scene, and only the sounds of crying and fighting could be heard, but it was not clear what happened.

It has to be said that the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army is relatively reckless. According to the basic tactics of the light cavalry, this time they can retreat by shooting a wave of arrows without arrows. Then they lured the dismounted infantry to pursue them forward. After their formation was scattered, they turned their horses' heads and charged again, pulling back and forth to the extreme.

After a few rounds, the mounted infantry did not have much strength, and the rest was left to the cavalry to fight back without any suspense.

But the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army did not play any tricks, but directly chose to be tough!

Fang Chongyong, who was sitting upright on the viewing platform, looked at the chaotic scene in front of him, holding his chin up and looking thoughtful.

The Mongols did not invent the light cavalry's tactics of pulling in front of the battle, but they used it best. The Tang Army was extremely confident in its own strength. In actual combat, it paid more attention to morale and equipment. Besides, the armor worn by the Tang Army's cavalry weighed about fifteen kilograms, so they really couldn't pull off the tricks of the Mongols.

The cavalry of the Silver Spear Filial Piety Army march forward indomitably, which is the norm of this era, or it is the rule of survival of the fittest.

After a while, people were lying on the ground in the training ground under the viewing platform, wailing, most of them were sergeants of the Yiwu Army. Dai Xiuyan, the envoy of the Yiwu Army, looked extremely sad for a moment. The elite Yiwu Army he had selected turned out to be so vulnerable.

Things may not necessarily make a big fuss in the end, but this storm can't last long!

Dai Xiuyan quickly bowed and apologized, fearing that Fang Chongyong would find an excuse to wear small shoes for himself.

"Come back to Jieshuai, it's true. But we didn't go to Yuhai. We were stopped when Zhang Sancheng was guarding the capture stronghold. The general found out about the situation in Xizhou, so he came back first and handed over the map and notes to Jieshuai. handsome."

Wang Nan didn't know what to say, because he also heard about it.

Wang Nan said with a troubled expression.

The soldiers and horses of the Anxi Protectorate did not give Fang Chongyong face!

"For example?"

"Gao Xianzhi, the deputy governor of Anxi, is collecting supplies and making dry food. I heard that he is preparing to lead troops to Shule Town to reach Manchuria (Kashgar, Xinjiang). He wants to..."

"The general heard that it was the Tocharian envoy who paid tribute, and the saint gave some gifts in return. Gao Xianzhi wanted to take Buqu and escort the Tocharian envoy back to Tocharo with gifts from the Tang Dynasty... This matter was originally ordinary, but I heard that the amount of baggage Gao Xianzhi needs this time is a bit large. The local treasury in Anxi is actually not enough, and he is still looking for Hu merchants to purchase it.

No matter what Gao Xianzhi wants to do this time, he is just trying to make Fang Chongyong look bad.

"Thank you for your hard work, go and have a rest. Don't rush into Anxi's situation. The commander will handle it when the time comes."

The Tang army's various guards and inspections were also much stricter!

Wang Rao took out a booklet from his arms and handed it to Fang Chongyong.

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly and said.

Fumeng Lingcha's caution and cooperation gave him the illusion that the border generals in the Western Regions were easier to talk to.

"Yanqi Town? Is it where Yuhai is?"

The general thought something was wrong, so he immediately came back and informed the Commander-in-Chief that everything would be decided by the Commander-in-Chief! "

But in fact it is not the case.

At this time, people in the Tang Dynasty called the lake "Yuhai".

I wanted to show off, but unexpectedly my eyes widened.

"The general is in panic! We must drill the men in the army hard!"

"The Yiwu army is quite strong. Victory or defeat is a matter of military strategism. Don't take it to heart, Commander Dai. This is just a drill."

As for why the tribute matter did not go through him as the Western Region Economic and Strategic Ambassador, it was also because this was the basic plan of the Honglu Temple of the Ministry of Rites. Tribute matters happened not to be under the direct control of the Western Regions Economic and Strategy Ambassador.

"Coming back to the commander-in-chief, I heard some bad rumors on the road and became very anxious."

ha? Tochar?
Fang Chongyong was stunned, searching in his mind where this place was. He had browsed it briefly before coming, but was not very impressed.

Seeing that Dai Xiuyan's face looked ugly, Fang Chongyong waved his hand indifferently and said.

Fang Chongyong asked directly, he seemed to have traveled to this place in his previous life, and it was also called this place at that time. I vaguely remember that there is a large lake in the area. The scenery is not as beautiful as what you can find in the desert, so it is very impressive.

In fact, the cavalry of the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army were also forced to stop, and the infantry of the Yiwu Army were basically beaten to the ground after being dismounted!

To put it simply: if you don’t ask about it, we will handle it ourselves; if you ask, I will tell you what is going on, and we will handle it.

Fang Chongyong smiled slightly, said hello, turned around and left. Once the goal has been achieved, there is no need to continue to fiddle with it.

Many frontier generals in the Western Regions probably felt that Fang Chongyong's arrival had robbed them of the peach that should have belonged to them, and they resisted openly or covertly and played tricks. There are probably many such people in the Anxi Army of the Anxi Protectorate.

The situation at the Anxi Protectorate is completely different from that in the Beiting Three Prefectures. The situation there is much more complicated.

He saw that Wang rarely wanted to say something but hesitated, so he asked curiously: "Is there anything else?"

"and then?"

Wang Rao clasped his fists and saluted.

"Jie Shuai, we were safe and sound all the way to Xizhou. However, after replenishing supplies in Xizhou and continuing west to the headquarters of the Anxi Protectorate, we were attacked in Yanqi Town, east of Qiuci. The Anxi troops over there were blocked."

He vaguely remembered that Tochar was not far west of Shule, and seemed to be in northern Afghanistan. This was not an ordinary distance.

"Those are all things for later. I have something to do, so I won't accompany Ambassador Dai to the ceremony. I'll take my leave."

Fang Zhongyong's heart sank, and his expression instantly turned gloomy.

Well, in fact, this is normal, because Wang Ruolan is not Fang Chongyong after all. In theory, this is the Tang Army of the same level. If you go to someone else's station to conduct reconnaissance without changing defense documents, it is normal for you to be blocked.

However, as soon as he returned to the commander's tent of the Anxi Expeditionary Force camp, he saw Wang Rao, the leader of the "Signal Flag" camp, hurriedly entering the commander's tent. The other party saluted bravely and said:

Fang Chongyong did not ask, so the officials of the Ministry of Rites also deliberately did not say anything. This matter was completed "silently" under the eyes of Fang Chongyong, the Western Region Economic and Strategic Ambassador.

In fact, Tochara is a region with relatively mixed forces and is only unified in name. Before the Arabs came, China was relatively pro-Tang Dynasty. But when Arabia began to get involved in the Western Regions, they began to move towards Qin Muchu.

During the Emperor Gaozong's reign, the Tang Dynasty conferred more than a dozen governor's offices here at one go. During the Kaiyuan period, Ji Ge conferred the title of Tocharian monarch Gudulu Dundado and became the Tocharian Yehu. Although Gudulu Dundadu was nominally ruling Tochara, his total military strength exceeded one hundred thousand.

On the surface, he looks like a prince!

but!

Afghanistan, I understand everything, every mountain has its own tribe. Governance rights are devolved to local areas, and Ye Hu does not have governance rights in various places. There is a political power in each valley, and they do not interfere with each other. They are extremely loose on weekdays.

Otherwise, Emperor Gaozong would not have conferred more than a dozen governor's offices here.

It is difficult to say exactly what the attitude of the many forces in Tocharia is now. Because they also faced the threat of the Tibetans, they naturally did not rule out turning to the Tibetans and eventually becoming enemies of the Tang Dynasty. Thinking of this, Fang Chongyong also guessed what Gao Xianzhi wanted to do.

Starting from Shule Town, we passed through the famous "Wakhan Corridor" in Fang Chongyong's previous life and entered northern Afghanistan, which is the border of Tochara. Survey the geography here, subdue the pro-Tibet forces in Tochara, and support the pro-Tang forces.

Then recruit local warriors as servants to provide some logistics, and finally go all out to capture Xiaobolu!

Of course, Gao Xianzhi could also choose to clean up in Tochara, and then return to Shule to observe the effects, but how to do it in the end is unknown.

To be fair, this move cannot be said to be nonsense, but it is still in line with Datang's strategy for governing the Western Regions.

Although Tochara was very poor, it had soldiers at its disposal.

Convinced here, I found a foothold west of Congling, and I can proceed to the next step. Among the countries in the Western Region, Tocharian mercenaries are quite capable of fighting.

But the problem is that this time Gao Xianzhi found an excuse to "protect tribute". The other party clearly wanted to borrow military merit and become the "King of the Mountain" in Anxi, and did not take Fang Chongyong seriously.

If Fang Chongyong cannot show his authority this time, and the Western Region is so vast, then in the future, who will care about him as the economic and strategic ambassador of the Western Region?
Wang Rao felt that something was wrong, but because of his status, he was unable to stop it, so he had to come back and report it.

"Let's go, let's set off now. I have to trouble you and Benjishuai to go to Qiuci again!"

Fang Chongyong sighed, feeling extremely fed up.

He led Wang Ranran out of the handsome tent and saw He Changqi playing "rock, paper, scissors" with Che Guangqian, looking very energetic. Fang Chongyong suddenly remembered the saying, "If you can have a happy conversation with someone without any scheming. If you get along well with someone, then the other person's emotional intelligence must be far better than yours."

Sure enough, He Laohu was fooled around by Che Guangqian without even realizing it.

"Bring the most elite members of the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army with you, let's go to Kucha now!"

Fang Chongyong ordered to He Changqi with a calm face.

"Didn't the army go to Xizhou for repairs? Didn't you say that you also wanted to build some mountain climbing equipment?"

He Changqi looked at Fang Chongyong in astonishment and asked.

Xizhou is the hometown of the Gaochang Kingdom. It has relatively developed productivity and abundant products. The famous "Gaochang cotton" is commonly grown in the fields. After the Anxi Expeditionary Force arrived in Xizhou, they had to prepare a batch of cotton-padded clothes before they dared to cross mountains and ridges without fear of severe cold.

How could he rush to Shule in one go?

"That's for later. Don't make any noise. I'll tell you on the way."

Fang Chongyong couldn't help scolding him and walked directly outside the camp gate. He wanted to say hello to Fumeng Lingcha before leaving. Next, the main force of the Anxi Expeditionary Force will go to Xizhou, and he will go to Qiuci to settle the score with Gao Xianzhi.

……

Since the opening of Kaifeng County on the canal, commerce has flourished and the population has increased. There are thousands of water workers and boatmen, and shops are gathered on both sides of the canal.

Now that the country has been at peace for a long time, the farmland in Bianzhou is not enough to support the extra people in the family, so many young people gather at Kaifeng Ferry to make a living. Over time, various "guilds" gradually emerged.

There are "commercial banks" that do business; there are "cao banks" that unload goods at the ferry; there are even "da banks" that use people's money to help others eliminate disasters.

The strange situation that Fang Youde witnessed was that two different "fighting companies" were fighting for manpower for territory and charging "security fees." The locals were already used to it.

In the land of Bianzhou, although commerce is developed and agriculture is okay,... apart from that, there are not many livelihoods that can be done. This is not Chang'an after all! Therefore, the local people's customs are cunning, there are few who are brave and ruthless, and there are many who are only interested in profit.

Don't look at how violent these thieves are, it's all for money. The people in the gang all came in according to "contracts". If they hang out here today, they may go to the other side of the river tomorrow.

Men don't care about loyalty. The reason why they are loyal is because they are not given enough chips for betrayal.

This principle is deeply rooted in the hearts of people in Bianzhou.

Due to the lack of canal management personnel due to the lack of government governance, the capital's water supervisors only had more than a hundred people in total, managing hundreds of rivers across the country. All management remained on paper, just talk.

Fang Youde didn't know this before, but now that he saw the chaos at Bianzhou Ferry with his own eyes, he realized that Taizong's so-called "minor officials and reduced administration" basically meant letting things go their own way.

Step on the watermelon rind and slide wherever you go.

"Alang, aren't you a general? Capture all these people and make them soldiers!"

On the bank of the canal, Fang Laique suddenly pointed at the group of thugs who were returning home after finishing their work.

"Yeah, indeed."

Fang Youde nodded slightly and said, with a thoughtful look on his face.

The next day, he came to the government office of Bianzhou and arrogantly asked Xue Jiangtong, the governor of Bianzhou, to build himself a government office for the military governor of Xuanwu Army.

Fang Youde is now a person who has entered Lingyan Pavilion! Who dares to neglect him as a local official?

Xue Jiangtong, who came from a "provincial governor's family", did not dare to neglect, and issued a "forced demolition order" on the houses around the Yamen, ordering the people here to leave in three days, otherwise they would send people to demolish them. Of course, he allocated another piece of land in Kaifeng, the state capital, for those people to rebuild houses.

As for the money for house construction, I'm sorry, but that's not available, because this forced demolition is not for the officials' livelihood, but a "government" matter.

Tang law stipulates that officials must pay money and land when demolishing other people's houses and building their own houses, but it does not say that the government must pay land expropriation money for building government offices! Re-allocating a piece of land in the city to rebuild houses for those people is already a great favor from the emperor. If you don't accept it, go to Chang'an and file a complaint!

Not only that, in order to give Fang Youde face, Xue Jiangtong also built a ferry on the bank of the Yellow River for Fang Youde to "organize and train the navy army". It served as a training base for the Xuanwu Army, the canal inspection and law enforcement team.

And a special fund from the canal tax was allocated to Fang Youde to recruit soldiers. The number was three thousand. According to the recruitment standard of fifty guan per person, sufficient funds were allocated. The funds were allocated month by month and paid off within one year.

Before the Yamen was established, Fang Youde put up a sign recruiting Yongzhuang in front of the Yamen of Bianzhou Prefecture.

Due to the generous treatment, countless applicants came to apply. However, when Fang Youde laid out the military laws and regulations of the Xuanwu Army, most of the applicants immediately left.

"Article 1: Those who join the Xuanwu Army have their faces tattooed. Once in the army, they will not be able to take it off for the rest of their lives."

"Article 2: If a general dies in victory, everyone above the rank will be killed; if he leads the army back after a defeat, everyone below the rank will be killed; if a general loses his army, he will be killed without mercy!"

"Article 3: Jiedu envoys and generals eat, live and receive the same salary. Military merit is not graded and is only rewarded based on military merit."

"..."

Seeing these scalp-breaking military laws, those young people who wanted to join the Xuanwu Army to fish were instantly discouraged.

Many people have a question in their minds: Bianzhou is not a border town, and there are no battles to be fought. Is it necessary to make military laws so strict?
However, soon, under the astonished eyes of everyone, one after another burly and powerful men gritted their teeth and walked into the Bianzhou government office one after another to participate in the "interview" hosted by Fang Youde, the military governor of Xuanwu Army.

Nowadays, the farmers are increasingly unable to support the extra people. Although the Xuanwu Army's military laws are abnormal, their salary... is really too much!
A brave man will always be rewarded. This saying is applicable to any dynasty.

The Xuanwu Army was established and news of the open recruitment spread, and young men from Bianzhou and even neighboring counties came here.

Fang Youde selected 3,000 strong men, and later eliminated 2,000 of them, breaking up a team of 100 people and stationed them at various crossings along the canal. They were under the supervision of the various state governments and were not part of the Xuanwu Army establishment. The remaining 1,000 people were soldiers of Xuanwu Army, and he selected 300 of the bravest among them to form a battalion of elite soldiers.

The name is: Control Crane.

(End of this chapter)