My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 307: Ming Stationed in Mayi, Secretly Headed for Hetao

The whole country is working hard to make this happen.

The words came out of his mouth, but they were just eight words of understatement;

But in actual operation, it is one jaw-dropping spectacle after another.

——On the first day of the seventh month in the first year of Emperor Rong, the imperial court officially issued a decree: Led by the treasury of the Shaofu, and assisted by the treasury of the Xiangfu, the post-war reconstruction work of Beidi County, which was devastated by the war at the beginning of this year, would be officially started.

In order to ensure that this work could be started as soon as possible after the autumn harvest and the first phase of the task could be completed before winter, the Shaofu treasury could be said to have spent nearly half of its savings.

This is scary!
But don’t ever think that the four words “a small portion of the family fortune” are of an insignificant order of magnitude no matter where they are placed!

Whether it is the feudal dynasty or the new era, any bulk commodity inventory led by the state, as long as it is no longer counted in "a few percent" but begins to be described as "several percent" or even "less than half", it is equivalent to a massive amount!

For example, this time, in order to help Beidi County with post-war reconstruction, the Shaofu treasury mobilized more than 50,000 official slaves to be responsible for craftsmanship and casting!

This is already at least 30% of the official slaves under the name of the Shaofu!
In order to transfer these 50,000 official slaves, even the imperial tomb that Liu Rong was about to start excavating: Ba Mausoleum and the corresponding mausoleum town, had to be temporarily put on hold.

The importance of the mausoleum town system to the Han Dynasty - its significance in integrating social resources, reducing the gap between the rich and the poor, and suppressing local tyrants - is self-evident.

The fact that Liu Rong put aside his own imperial mausoleum and mausoleum town projects and transferred manpower to "build the north" can only mean that Liu Rong made a certain degree of sacrifice, or concession, for this battle.

——Make way for war!

——From the emperor down, all Han land and all Han people are making way for the upcoming Han-Xiongnu war!
Apart from these 50,000 official slaves and a team of more than a thousand craftsmen, the Shaofu Treasury did not make any other moves towards the north.

To be precise, there were no other overt actions.

Almost at the same time when these 50,000 official slaves and thousands of craftsmen set out from Chang'an and headed north, a two-hour "curfew" began to appear in the night of Chang'an City.

The so-called "lifting of curfew" means that in the cities of the feudal dynasties, the curfew was temporarily lifted within a specific period of time due to certain necessary reasons.

Specifically, in the seventh month of autumn in the first year of Emperor Rong's reign, at midnight every night, the six city gates on the four walls of Chang'an City began to open the city gates for two hours before curfew.

Two-wheeled carts loaded with unknown materials and pulled by camels were continuously transported out from Chang'an during the two hours of the night shift every day.

After leaving the Chang'an city gate, the cart was pulled a few miles by manpower before being harnessed to the old oxen and slow horses and heading north.

——Hidden during the day and active at night!
Whether it was the shipment from Chang'an City or the entire transportation route from Chang'an to the north, the Shaofu Neiku strictly followed Liu Rong's instructions: hide during the day and move out at night, concealing the whereabouts!
In addition, while the Shaofu's treasury was "secretly transporting supplies" to the north, it was also openly mobilizing food and supplies needed for war to the Daibei Mayi line. This action did not attract the attention of many people.

Of course, some people paid attention to it.

However, the two-hour curfew in Chang'an every night only targeted the secret material transport vehicles of the Shaofu treasury;

As for the other traitors who walked out of the house and onto the streets during these two hours with the intention of gathering intelligence, they were all captured one by one by the Embroidered Uniform Guards under the command of Doctor Ling Zhou Ren who were secretly following them.

After they were arrested and tried, it turned out to be true: they were all spies and informants planted in Chang'an by the Huns with great effort, over a period of more than ten, twenty or even thirty years.

Most of them were Han people who were threatened by the Huns and then lured with large sums of money.

Liu Rong didn't ask too many questions and let Zhou Ren handle it on his own.

It’s not that Liu Rong is merciful, but the war is imminent, and Liu Rong doesn’t want to be disgusted by these human-shaped maggots and have too drastic emotional fluctuations.

——The war is about to begin!
Liu Rong needs to keep a cool head at all times to deal with unexpected situations that may arise at any time and make the most accurate decisions in the first place.

The situation in the north was half bright and half dark, but the situation in Mayi was completely clear - it took nearly half a month, and the first batch of military supplies allocated from the Shaofu treasury for this battle was basically in place.

When the first batch of logistical supplies arrived, Liu Rong immediately issued an edict: to recruit 200,000 good families in Guanzhong to rush to Mayi!
At this point, the war machine that the Han family inherited from the Qin Dynasty and had been deliberately suppressing finally began to roar...

"The north of Dai is bitterly cold, and the city of Mayi is isolated!"

"If there is a way forward, act decisively and never let down the opportunity given by God!"

"If you can take the bandit's head, take it. If you can't, then your own life will be the most important thing!"

"You must know that in your family, you have an old man, a brother and a sister-in-law, and a wife, children and brothers..."

In Hejiazhai, a residential area in the north of Chang'an City, an old man in his sixties is holding the arm of a young man, imparting his valuable experience with a serious look on his face.

Behind the old man, a woman with tears in her eyes said nothing. She just walked forward with the packed bag in her arms, gritted her teeth and tied the bag on the young man's back with tears in her eyes.

Next to the woman, there was a relative who was comforting her in a gentle voice. She was not only the "brother and sister-in-law" mentioned by the old man, but also the aunt in the neighborhood.

Inside the door frame, a timid head poked out halfway, looking at the young man with a look of reluctance and worry;
But more than that, there is a lingering sense of pride...

"My son, remember the adults' teachings!"

The young man packed his bag, put on the sword at his waist, and bowed deeply to the old man in front of him!
Then he took a step sideways, walked to the weeping woman, and lowered his head with a complicated expression;
After a long while, Fang gently took the woman's hand and said in a gentle voice, "Father and Dalang, I will trouble you."

"My brother is disabled and has difficulty walking. I'm afraid my brother and his wife won't be able to come home often to take care of him."

"If Xijun really can't take care of it, ask Axia to help."

···
"If I die, I will get tens of thousands of dollars in pension;"

"If that happens, I will send Dalang to my brother's home and treat him as my brother's successor."

"Leave another ten thousand dollars for Dalang, and take the rest to find a good family to marry..."

Within a few words, the whole street was filled with sobs and groans.

——Similar scenes are played out at the doorsteps of almost every household.

There are elderly parents who impart their experiences and knowledge to their sons;

There are brothers and sisters who entrust each other with "take good care of yourself";

There were also women who pulled their children's heads to their bellies with tears in their eyes, reminding their husbands not to be stubborn.

Same as in the past;
Just like the Qin Dynasty a hundred years ago, and every war since the Han Dynasty;
The old Qin man once again gave away the male member of his family.

Even though it was a process that they were already extremely familiar with, the sky above Chang'an City was still inevitably filled with sadness.

There is no such thing as war without sacrificing a single soldier.
If we win, fewer young men in Guanzhong will die;
If we lose, more people will die.

In the end, someone is going to die;

After all, someone will never come back...

"Take care, my lord."

The father's son is gone.

"Go back, take the boy with you."

The wife's husband is gone.

"grown ups!"

"You must return victorious!"

The son's father is gone.

gone……

All gone...

……

"Ugh……"

"A full 200,000-man army is gathered in a small town called Mayi..." "I wonder how many more troops the Xiongnu barbarians have sent this time..."

All Han men are soldiers.

At this moment, looking at the young faces wearing military robes and walking away with long swords on their waists, the elders couldn't help but frown.

They were all boys, about fourteen or fifteen years old, and had all received winter training in the local area. Those in their twenties had also served in border defense and military service.

Even though they had never witnessed the invasion of the Huns, the older generation still sensed a sense of severity from the conscription order from the court.

——Two hundred thousand troops!

If placed in Guandong, it would be enough to suppress all the clan princes!
Now they are sent to the border wall, but they are just guarding a city...

Guarding a Mayi...

"May God bless you and our ancestors protect you;"

"May the spirits of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong Xiaowen in heaven bless our Han dynasty to victory..."

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Weiyang Palace, the rear hall of Qingliang Hall.

Or the huge simulated sand table that almost took up the entire floor of the palace;

But at this moment, there was no second figure beside Liu Rong.

——Li Ji, Marquis of Quzhou, was officially named Taiwei on the 15th day of the seventh month in autumn, and seven days later he led his army north to Daidi!

Cheng Bushi, the prefect of Yanmen, was given the rank of general and led 20,000 soldiers from Yanmen and 30,000 soldiers from Guanzhong - a total of 50,000 troops, to garrison Mayi!

Zhidu, the commander of Yanmen, was given the title of Rear General and led the troops from Loufan County and Guanzhong, totaling 50,000 troops, to station in Loufan County to provide support for Mayi.

The above is the public appointment announced by the court, and it is also the real appointment.

What remains is a good show directed by Liu Rong for this battle.

——Han Tuidang, Marquis of Gonggao, was given the title of General of Chariots and Cavalry, led 50,000 troops from Guanzhong, and served as an attendant to Li Ji, the Grand Commandant;
In fact, Han Tuidang's 50,000 soldiers and horses quietly separated from the main force during the march, broke up into small groups, and headed north in disguise.

——Marquis of Yu Luan Bu, with the rank of general, also led an army of 50,000 and also "followed the Taiwei and obeyed his orders under his tent." However, his actual movements were exactly the same as those of Han Tuidang's troops.

In addition, there is Jiangdu King Liu Fei - familiar formula, familiar taste: he followed the previous emperor and other kings out of Chang'an to the east, secretly left halfway, and his destination was still the north.

At this point, the deployment of Han generals in the two battlefields of Mayi and Beidi, one open and one hidden, was basically completed.

The rest, of course, was Liu Rong trying to sow discord among the generals and officers and fill in the ranks with people with connections.

The Kurikura of Shanglinyuan;

The envoy was Ji An, the Minister of Justice;
The Cao family of Pingyang Hou and the Li family, Liu Rong's mother's family, were also pushed to the north by Liu Rong.

Even the eunuch Ling Kuiwu, Liu Rong felt that keeping him in the palace was a waste of his muscles, so he gave him to the good-natured man Ji An, thinking that he was protecting him.

The food and supplies had already arrived at the designated battlefield;
The troops have already set out under the leadership of the generals and will arrive soon.

It was not until then that Liu Rong realized that he had done everything a feudal emperor could do in a large-scale battle involving hundreds of thousands of people.

The rest, to put it nicely, depends on the right time, right place, and right people, whether the soldiers are brave enough to die, and whether the generals are good at making plans;

To put it bluntly, this is Liu Rong’s current intuitive feeling.

"Everything is clearly ready, and even the color of the soldiers' pants has been discussed at the temple;"

"Why do I still feel like I'm leaving everything to fate?"

He squatted beside the sand table in a daze, looking at the wooden horses of the Xiongnu standing outside the border wall of the "Han family" and the small wooden figures confronting the wooden horses.
Gazing deeply at the pearl of the frontier that he had longed for: Hetao, Liu Rong felt a sense of indecisive loneliness.

"You never noticed me, but I've actually gotten used to that silly fellow Aoi-wu..."

Talking to himself and staring at the sand table for a long time, Liu Rong finally forced himself to come back to his senses.

He glanced at the back of his body, then looked at the sand table again, smiling and saying, "After all, I am now the head of the palace maids of Changle Palace."

"Why are you still so silent when you see me?"

When Liu Rong called out his name, Xia Que, who had been acting as a statue, finally turned around shakily like an old tree spirit awakening.

She turned to Liu Rong and bowed respectfully, saying, "The eunuch ordered me to tell you that as the leader of the eunuchs in Changle Palace, I should be careful in what I say and do."

"—it is best to say less and do less."

"After a long time, I got used to not talking."

He hadn't paid attention to this silly thing that he picked for his mother in the past few years, but when he saw it today, Liu Rong knew it was the same summer sparrow.

——Perhaps Xia Que will no longer be bullied by palace servants or suffer from hunger.

But Xia Que's original intention remains the same.

He is still the same adorable, silly guy who makes people laugh...

"Talk to me."

"Without that fool Kuiwu, most of the nobles and officials in the court have gone to war, either openly or secretly."

"I am so depressed..."

After saying these words with a wry smile, Liu Rong immediately stood up from the steps at the edge of the sand table, walked to the imperial couch near the wall inside the hall, and pretended to play chess with Xia Que.

Not only was he unaware of the glorious deeds of the late emperor, but he also hadn't thought it through - seeing Liu Rong cleaning the chessboard, Xia Que just straightened his posture and bowed again, and when Liu Rong signaled him to "sit", he really sat down.

But then, Xia Que dropped the chess pieces in his hand randomly, and started to speak some "nonsense".

"If Your Majesty feels depressed, you should go to the Pepper Room to accompany the Queen."

"Everyone in the palace says that the ritual of Duke Zhou is the most beautiful thing in the world..."

Liu Rong: …

···
"The Empress Dowager said a few days ago that Your Majesty has been enthroned for nearly a year, and no matter what, the matter of the Imperial Mausoleum should not be delayed any longer."

"At the very least, we should build the mausoleum first, and then move a group of local tyrants from Guanzhong into the pass."

"Your Majesty is the grandson of the Empress Dowager. You should always listen to your elders..."

Liu Rong: ………………

···
"His Majesty……"

“——Is this the end?!”

"——A true gentleman plays chess without speaking, don't you understand?!!"

Xia Que: "But..."

"But I am not a gentleman..."

"This servant, it's just..."

"I am just a servant..."

(End of this chapter)