My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 253 Thick Eyebrows and Big Eyes Emperor Rong

"Cavalry Commander?"

Chang'an City, Weiyang Palace.

Looking at the petition in his hand that was handed to him by Cheng Buzhi, Liu Rong raised his eyebrows in surprise, and then cast a puzzled look at Zhou Ren, the doctor beside him.

"The Northland actually managed to gather a cavalry commander?"

"Didn't they say that Emperor Xiaojing transferred a cavalry captain from the north a few years ago during the Wu-Chu Seven Kingdoms Rebellion?"

"It's only been a few years, how come another cavalry captain suddenly appeared?"

When Liu Rong asked the question, Zhou Ren was holding a chess piece between his index and middle fingers, looking down at the chessboard with a smile on his face.

Following the sound, Zhou Ren raised his head and glanced at the bamboo slips in Liu Rong's hand, then lowered his head and immersed himself in the chess game again;

He only replied calmly: "Your Majesty must have heard of the Knight of the North."

"——In the sixth year of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen's reign, Emperor Taizong ordered the Prime Minister and the Imperial Household to transfer money from the Imperial Treasury of the Ministry of Finance and the National Treasury of the Prime Minister's Office at a ratio of 70:30 to set up horse farms in all the counties along the border."

"Later, he issued an edict to the whole country: All the men in the north, Longyou, and the counties along the northern border who were over 20 years old, registered as farmers, and skilled in riding were to be 'knights'."

"Every knight who turns 14 will receive 10 dan of grain and 10 jin of meat from the Shaofu treasury, as well as a certain amount of money, cloth and other rewards."

"If a knight wishes to join the army as a rider and provide his own warhorse, he shall be given a rank of 100 stones and become a Quhou (100-stone leader);"

"Those without horses shall be paid 30 dan of salary per year and become soldiers."

As soon as these words were spoken, the chess piece that Zhou Ren had been hanging on the chessboard for a long time finally fell onto the board with a crisp sound.

On the other side of the chessboard, Liu Rong immediately frowned, leaned forward to observe the chess game, and took over the conversation in a deep voice.

"Since this decree, the border of Northern County has gained tens of thousands of people skilled in horsemanship over the years, and among them, the knights of the North are the most prominent."

"——In the fourteenth year of Emperor Taizong's reign, the Di chieftain Shang Jizhou launched a large-scale attack on the border, and the Beidi Duwei's army was completely annihilated;"

"After the war, Emperor Taizong learned that the northern knights had fought hard against the barbarians, so he issued another decree: All northern knights will begin winter training at the age of fourteen to hone their cavalry and combat skills, and their annual salary will be 100 stones!"

"All those over the age of twenty are registered in a register and do not engage in production. They only practice riding and fighting skills every day, and receive food, meat, and cloth from the court."

"Whenever a knight from the North dies in battle, his eldest son will be chosen as his heir;"

"All funeral arrangements, and the posthumous honors, are better than those in Shandong..."

Snapped!
As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Rong pressed a chess piece onto the chessboard. Liu Rong then raised his eyes to glance at Zhou Ren, and immediately placed the bamboo slips in his other hand beside him.

After Liu Rong finished speaking, Zhou Ren let out a long sigh and couldn't help but envy those who were called "Knights of the North".

Than Shandong Fu;

Since the Han Dynasty, there have been no other words that can make a minister other than the Liu family feel more honored than these four words.

——The Shandong here naturally does not refer to the Shandong Province in later generations, but the place where the dragon was hidden before Emperor Taizu Liu Bang founded the country: the area east of Mount Xiao.

To put it more bluntly, it is the abundant followers of Qiandi Conglong.

Compared with Shandong Fu, it can also be directly understood as: enjoying the treatment of the founding father level.

Zhou Rengui was the Marquis of Rufen in the Han Dynasty, a title that no other Liu clan official could reach, and it was also a memorial archway that the Han clan erected for Zhou.
His official position even reached the level of Nine Ministers. Although it was difficult to go further and he could not be called the "highest official in the country", he was already standing on the top platform of the power pyramid of the Han Dynasty.

Even with such status and position, Zhou Ren still felt jealous and envious of Liu Rong's words "more prosperous than Shandong". It is not difficult to imagine how valuable these four words are in the Han family today.

He smacked his lips, temporarily suppressing the envy in his heart, picked up another chess piece from the chess basket, and leaned over to observe the chess game again. Zhou Ren finally turned his attention back to the main topic at hand.

"Ever since Emperor Taizong issued an edict to establish the title of 'Knights of the North' - a title that is not an official title but is better than an official title, the cavalry of our Han family has always been inseparable from the figures of the men of the North."

"We can see this from the fact that during the Wu-Chu Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, Emperor Xiaojing assigned Han Tuidang, the Marquis of Gonggao, to be the Northern Cavalry Captain who made a great contribution in the surprise attack on the Huai and Sikou Pass."

"——Marquis Gong Gao still praises the cavalry captain who came from the north and feels deeply sorry for him."

"Marquis Gong Gao said more than once: If it weren't for the great merits of that cavalry captain, and the promotions to higher positions, Marquis Gong Gao really wanted to petition Emperor Xiao Jing to be appointed as a cavalry captain and command those 1,000 northern cavalry."

"According to Marquis Gong Gao, if the Northern Cavalry Captain was placed on the grassland, just by looking at their riding skills, I'm afraid no one would be able to tell that they are Han people."

"Even among the Huns who were born and raised on horseback, these northern knights are still outstanding."

At this point, Zhou Ren finally smiled helplessly and shook his head, gently throwing the two chess pieces on the chessboard to show his acceptance of defeat;
He immediately raised his head, smiled and said seriously: "Northern Knights are the best career path for good families in the North, and even in the surrounding border counties such as Longyou, Shang, and Dai."

"I once went to the north on a mission under the order of Emperor Xiaojing;"

"I have seen that the good and wealthy families in the north never think of exploiting the peasants, but do their best to train their sons into excellent knights."

"——Even farmers, tenant farmers, and even domestic servants were treated kindly by them."

"The reason is that they hope to have a brave and extraordinary knight from the North among their own men;"

"And these neighboring farmers, tenant farmers, and their own slaves can become the personal soldiers of the northern knight. On the battlefield, they can look after and protect each other, attack and retreat together, and achieve merit."

Having said that, Zhou Ren stopped talking at the right time, leaving Liu Rong with appropriate space.

It was just as Zhou Ren expected - as soon as Zhou Ren finished speaking, Liu Rong on the other side of the chessboard nodded with a thoughtful look on his face.

"In this case, as long as the North is not destroyed, we can continuously produce Northland knights."

"——He is an elite cavalryman with superb riding skills, who grew up in a border county, hates the Xiongnu and the northern barbarians, and knows a lot about military affairs."

“Even Gong Gaohou, who was born and raised on the grassland, praised this kind of cavalry.”

Hearing this, Zhou Ren finally nodded with a smile, and as if the truth had been revealed, he suddenly changed the subject: "So, perhaps your Majesty's edict should not have been sent to Li Cheqi."

As soon as these words came out, Liu Rong's expression froze, and then he lowered his head with a half-smile.
Looking at the game in front of him, it seemed that the two sides were evenly matched, but in fact Liu Rong could lose everything at any time. In the end, due to Zhou Ren's high emotional intelligence, Liu Rong narrowly won the game. Liu Rong couldn't help but shake his head and laugh again.

After a long time, Liu Rong stood up with a smile and a sigh, walked to the imperial couch with his hands behind his back, and waved his hand to signal Zhou Ren to come and sit down.

After Zhou Ren sat down, Liu Rong sighed again, and then asked intriguingly: "Do you think my idea is wrong?"

"——In the fourteenth year of Emperor Taizong's reign, the Xiongnu leader Jizhou Chanyu entered Beidi, causing the destruction of the two counties of Beidi and Longyou. The Xiongnu cavalry then marched straight in, heading straight for the imperial capital Chang'an!"

"This time, the Xiongnu have once again raised a large army to attack our border. Shouldn't I be concerned about the safety of Guanzhong first?"

"Let Li Ji send only 10,000 troops to support Cheng Buzhi in Chaona Sai, while the main force of the army will be stationed in Xiaoguan to ensure the stability of Guanzhong - isn't this a truly appropriate strategy?"

"I am the Son of Heaven, shepherding the people of the world. Should I forget about the safety of Guanzhong and the imperial capital Chang'an for the sake of Beidi County and the Beidi Knights?"

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"What's more, if we defend Xiaoguan, we will defend Guanzhong."

"——There are knights in the north, and in Guanzhong, there are also a steady stream of good family men, who are the backbone of the Han family, right?"

"For the sake of the knights of the north, I have ignored the good families of Guanzhong - how can I be so partial to one and neglect the other?"

"What's more, compared to the good family boy in Guanzhong, the military merits he has achieved as a knight in the north are probably not even as good as eleven?"

What Liu Rong said was not wrong.

It can be said that the good family men in Guanzhong were the first indispensable element in the entire process from the establishment of the Han regime to the consolidation of its rule.

—— Liu Ji, the Duke of Pei, entered Xianyang first. Although he had thousands of Fengpei followers and Guandong volunteers under his command, after he was named King of Han, more than half of the men in Guanzhong followed Liu Bang's army southward.

Afterwards, the Three Qins were pacified. The Fengpei Yuancongs had already become officials or generals, but those who actually charged into the front lines were basically all men from the Three Qins and Guanzhong.

After taking Guanzhong, when he united various princes and marched east through Hangu Pass to seek justice from Xiang Yu, he found that all the tens of thousands of Han troops under Liu Bang were Qin people.

After the defeat in Pengcheng, Liu Bang retreated to Xingyang. Tens of thousands of men from Guanzhong were killed and buried in a foreign land. Prime Minister Xiao, who stayed in Guanzhong, hurriedly recruited soldiers and sent them to Liu Bang to stabilize the defense line of Xingyang.

The soldiers sent there were still the sons and daughters of Guanzhong. When Xiang Yu committed suicide at Wujiang and the Han Dynasty came to power, it was the sons and daughters of Guanzhong who followed Liu Bang in his campaigns and conquered various foreign vassal states.
During the Han-Xiongnu Campaign in Pingcheng, Liu Bang was trapped in the Siege of Baideng. Hundreds of men from Guanzhong died in battle, thousands froze to death, and tens of thousands were injured or disabled, accompanying Liu Bang.

When Empress Dowager Lü passed away and the Lü clan was about to cause chaos in Chang'an, it was still the good family men from Guanzhong who were members of the Northern Army who rushed into the palace with their right arms exposed and massacred all of them.

——It is no exaggeration to say that the Guanzhong soldiers are more important to the Han Dynasty than Fengpei Yuancong and Taizu Liu Bang's "old brothers from Shandong".

What's more, Guanzhong was the base for the Han Dynasty to maintain and operate since the time of Emperor Taizu Liu Bang, who was still just one of the 18 princes in the world: the King of Han.

The importance of Guanzhong is self-evident.

Compared with this, the so-called Knights of the North, or even the so-called "Knights of Shandong", are just that.

That’s right;

Leaving the main force in Xiaoguan to ensure the stability of Guanzhong, and on this premise, providing appropriate support to Chaonasai - Cheng Buzhi, this was the order Liu Rong gave to Li Ji.

And it’s a death order!

Judging from the strategic focus and the priority of Guanzhong and the North, there is obviously nothing wrong with Liu Rong's arrangement.

However, Zhou Ren served as an official for three dynasties. Even though he did not have a strong military background, he was not ignorant of military affairs.

Therefore, Zhou Ren was not in a position to directly advise Liu Rong against this seemingly reasonable arrangement, but he still had to speak out in the end.

"But Your Majesty, didn't you say that the best defense is to attack the enemy so that he can't take care of himself?"

"How come now, when it comes to the comfort of the North, Longyou, and even most of the border, Your Majesty has completely forgotten what you said?"

Seeing Liu Rong's calm and unperturbed look, Zhou Ren couldn't help but feel anxious again.
He didn't dare to use too intense words, so he could only say this, and then continued: "Your Majesty believes that Guanzhong is more important than the north, which is certainly correct."

"Don't even mention the north - even if all the counties and kingdoms north of Xiaoguan, east of Hangu Pass, and south of Wuguan are added together, they are not as important as Guanzhong!"

"This is something that is beyond doubt."

"But why do you think that sending all the Li chariots and cavalry to support Chaona Pass will put Guanzhong in danger?"

···
"You know, Chaona Pass is almost the only passage fortress for the Huns to invade the north;"

"As long as Chaona Pass is not breached, the Xiongnu will not be able to march more than 10,000 troops into the north in such a short period of time."

"If that's the case, why didn't Your Majesty let the Li Chariots rush to support Chaona Pass with all their strength and directly block the Xiongnu outside the gate, but instead deployed the reinforcements sent by the court at the gate of Guanzhong?"

"Even if we want to prioritize Guanzhong, there is no need to be so cautious..."

At the end, Zhou Ren himself felt that his words had gone too far, so he stopped talking angrily, forced a laugh twice, and then lowered his head with a little helplessness under Liu Rong's meaningful gaze.

When a general is away from the emperor, he may not obey his orders. This is indeed a privilege granted to military generals in this era.

But few people noticed that these generals who were "outside the king's command" had actually already been formulated with major strategic plans long before they went on the expedition.

When outside the court, one does not receive orders from the emperor and only has autonomy in specific operations, but there is no room for negotiation on the strategic policies set by the court.

It is just like when the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion broke out between Wu and Chu, the strategic policy that the court gave to the Grand Marshal Zhou Yafu was to quell the rebellion as soon as possible while ensuring that the war would not spread to Guanzhong, would not burn to Hangu Pass, and that Xingyang Ao Cang would not be threatened.

Then the court just let it go and let Zhou Yafu do whatever he wanted.

Even when Zhou Yafu watched the bloody battle in Suiyang without rescuing the troops, the then Emperor Qi could only throw up his hands and say: There is nothing we can do. Zhou Yafu said that the general is away from the court and is not subject to the emperor's orders.

However, Zhou Yafu did not dare to compromise on the strategic goals set by the court, and finally exceeded the task.

After returning to the capital, there were still many people who blamed Zhou Yafu - especially the Empress Dowager of the Eastern Palace, who secretly described Zhou Yafu as a traitor and a rebellious minister!
What's the result?

Didn’t Zhou Yafu still eat and drink as usual, not only satisfying his desire to be the prime minister, but also serving as the grand tutor, one of the three teachers of the crown prince?

what?
You say Zhou Yafu is having a miserable life now?
Then you can't blame others, it's all my own fault...

Therefore, even if he wanted to advise, Zhou Ren knew in his heart: unless Liu Rong's attitude changed 180 degrees, even if Li Ji had great courage, he would never dare to send more than half of the troops out of Xiaoguan.

——Ensure the safety of Xiaoguan, just six words;
But if the main force of the Huns invaded, just these six words would be a heavy burden for Li Ji to bear even if he tried his best to say "it should be no problem".

Zhou Ren originally wanted to test Liu Rong's attitude and then wait for an opportunity to persuade him.

After all, over the years, Liu Rong has always been the image of someone who would discuss everything with others, and as long as what his subjects say makes sense, he would seriously discuss it.

But I didn't expect that Liu Rong would be so firm in his attitude towards this matter.
To the point that a ridiculous idea came to Zhou Ren's mind.

——If Liu Rong was not also surnamed Liu, and was a member of the Han royal family, and more directly the emperor himself, Zhou Ren would have thought that Liu Rong was going to sell the entire Beidi and Longyou counties to the Xiongnu...

"In your opinion, can Li Ji's 10,000 reinforcements solve the urgent problem at Chao's Pass?"

While he was thinking, Liu Rong suddenly asked a question, and Zhou Ren immediately raised his head;
Seeing that Liu Rong was still calm and at ease, he said with some suspicion: "If we move faster, we can prevent the fortress from being breached in the short term."

"But the gap in troop strength is too big, and I'm afraid the casualties will not be small."

Liu Rong nodded gently and said to himself, "So, even if we are a little weak in the first battle, we will not be defeated."

"Really?"

He said softly, and when Zhou Ren nodded subconsciously, Liu Rong's smile became even wider.

Then he asked again: "What will the scene be like in the court at that time?"

"What will be the trend of public opinion in the court?"

This question made Zhou Ren frown.

The first battle was not going well, and the soldiers and generals were lost, so naturally the people in the court were uneasy;
In order for the subsequent war situation to develop in a direction favorable to the Han family, it is natural that the King of Ideas will jump out.

After that, it would be natural for him to do what Zhou Ren did today, urging Liu Rong to issue an edict to Li Ji to send more troops to Chaonasai for support.

then……

!

Suddenly, a possibility appeared in Zhou Ren's mind, causing Zhou Ren's eyes to widen!

When he looked up, he saw an intriguing smile on Liu Rong's lips. He narrowed his eyes slightly, and then looked away as if no one was around.

Liu Rong still said to himself: "You are advising me today, of course, you are loyal and brave, for the country and the people."

"But at that time, the entire court attacked me for being 'young and ignorant'. I don't know how many people with ulterior motives mixed in, using the name of admonishment to actually go against the emperor..."

"——There may even be people who, under the pretext of 'for the sake of the ancestral temple and the country', advise me to temporarily step back from the stage and wait until I am crowned and take charge of the government."

"After that, the Empress Dowager will sit in the court and arrange a marriage to appease the Hu people..."

At the end, Liu Rong finally put away all the smiles on his face and raised his head with a little indifference;
Gazing out of the palace gate, he said slowly, "I have a task for you."

"——From today on, pay close attention to the actions of the ministers and officials of the court, as well as officials of 1,000 koku and above."

"I want to know who met whom and what they said."

"Especially those related to the border war and the words of the Eastern Palace Queen Mother. Make sure to present them word for word."

After he finished speaking, Zhou Ren had already fallen to his knees with a broken heart, and with a trembling voice, he squeezed out the words "I obey your command";
But Liu Rong turned slightly to the side, looking down at Zhou Ren with a slanting gaze, and said intriguingly: "Let the news of today's incident spread."

"Then tell me that the doctor advised me to support Chaonasai with all my strength."

"I am very hesitant..."

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(End of this chapter)