Dawn of the Empire

Chapter (1:55: Qing'e-5

Under the banner with the word "Han", a small boat was rowing towards Zhao Xingde's sea boat, and the Han army checked the password documents with each other before releasing it.The seven or eight sailors on the small boat were wearing thick cotton military robes and a 'fur' leather waistcoat, and the thick leather belts around their waists were full of short knives, fire pockets, deerskin pouches, etc., all of uniform specifications.A sailor jumped onto the Kaizhou ship and instructed the boss of the ship to enter the port along the designated waterway, with a hint of pride in his gestures.Compared with the soldiers dressed like beggars in the Yalu River Hanzhai in Taibai Mountain, only in terms of equipment, the Suzhou Han Army is already a regular army.

The port is obviously very busy, and there are large and small ships moored at the berths, and the masts are lined up like a dense forest.The sailors on board yelled words in different accents.These sailors followed the ship from Mizhou, Jinling, and even Guangzhou. The Han army did not allow them to enter the hinterland, but they were allowed to stay around the wharf.The wharf is full of all kinds of goods, warm clothes wrapped in thick cloth, rice from Fujian, wheat from Shandong, and iron from Hebei. The warehouse of the stronghold left.

"Mr. Zhao, this is yours." Wang Ji handed a red scarf to Zhao Xingde, motioning him to wrap it around his neck, and he wrapped one himself.Zhao Xingde took it over and saw that the corner of the red scarf was embroidered with a rather delicate phoenix pattern, and there was also the word "Shuaifu" in regular script.In order to prevent spies from spying on the details, starting from the wharf, the entire Suzhou Guannan has a radius of hundreds of miles, and the Han army has marked out various areas with white ash and wooden signs.Ordinary soldiers with white scarves around their necks can only move within the defense area of ​​the camp, while those wearing red scarves are the generals of each battalion or the guards of the commander's mansion, and can walk through each camp.Han Ningshuang herself wore a white scarf to show that her upper and lower bodies are one.Everyone in Guannan, Suzhou knew the marshal, so naturally there was no need to worry about being blocked when he went there.

While wrapping the red scarf around his neck, Zhao Xingde said with a smile: "Leader Han is quite thoughtful." Wang Ji said: "All the generals are too busy to lead the training of each battalion. The rules and regulations of the Guannan Camp are all arranged by the marshal. handwriting."

Zhao Xingde looked left and right while walking.Almost all the nearby hills were building fortresses. Zhao Xingde could tell at a glance that the Han army absorbed the design of Nanshan City and built the forts small and strong, but the city walls were obviously much thinner than Nanshan City.Not far away, a group of soldiers of the Han army practiced spear formation on the battlefield. While stabbing with their guns, the soldiers shouted loudly, "Kill!" "Kill!" Zhao Xingde saw that the soldiers in the front row were all wearing iron helmets The soldiers at the back also had thick leather armor, and they couldn't help laughing: "The Han army has brought out their wealth for many years. If the Liao Kingdom attacks Suzhou Guannan with all its strength, it may not be so easy."

"The fathers and elders of Liaodong have been here for decades, but it's a pity that there are too few horse troops. We still have to rely on the fortress to compete with the Liao army." Wang Ji looked up at Zhao Xingde and sighed, "Mr. Zhao, the Nanshan City you designed is really good. Well, there are too many earthworks that can be used, and it is too slow to build."

Seeing that his eyes were full of worry, Zhao Xingde explained with a smile: "Since I'm here, I naturally have a solution." Then he asked: "The elite of the Han army is gathered here, even if we can't just defend and not attack, now the Commander's Mansion Do you have a plan for the next step?" Wang Ji said: "According to General Xu, since Kaizhou has gained momentum, we should conquer Zhenhai Prefecture and Muzhou to the east, and join Kaizhou and Taibai Mountain together. General Zhang advocated Take Fuzhou, Ningzhou, Chenzhou, and Yaozhou in the northwest first, and then cut off the connection between Zhenhai Prefecture and Liaoyang in the east, maybe Zhenhai Prefecture can be defeated without a fight. Mr. Zhao, what do you think?"

Xu Detai came from Kaizhou Village, so he advocated opening the passage between Suzhou and Kaizhou, and Zhang Liuge was the leader of Chenzhou Water Village, so he was more willing to follow the waterway to attack Liaoguo Prefecture and County in the northwest by the sea .Zhao Xingde sighed secretly. Although the terrain of Suzhou is good, if the Han army wants to seize more territory, it is inevitable to give up the terrain that is absolutely beneficial to them and fight the Liao army outside the Suzhou Pass.And the Han army is absolutely unable to defend the prefectures and counties if they are scattered.Furthermore, in the future battle between Liao and Jin, the vicinity of Liaoyang must be the most important battlefield.According to Zhao Xingde's thinking, the Han army had almost wiped out the population of the states and counties in eastern Liao, so it would be better to move the population to the Yalu River or even further north, which is far away from the ruling center of the Liao Kingdom.As a result, the Liao army's supply line will be stretched thousands of miles, and with the cavalry harassing the rear, the Liao army will be forced to retreat if they persist for one winter without food and grass.Suzhou Guannan is a good base for looting and harassing the Liao Kingdom.

He thought for a moment, then said in a deep voice: "I have no claim, I just follow the arrangements of the commander's mansion. However, these places are too close to the Liao Kingdom, and if there are too many places, it will be a burden. It is best to only plunder the population and wealth of these states , moved to the Yalu River, or even the Jumen River, and in the future, when the people are strong and the horses are strong, they will fight back."

Wang Ji smiled and said, "Mr. Zhao is from the Southern Dynasty, so he doesn't know anything about it. After crossing the Yalu River and going north, the place is too cold to grow food."

"Really? But Ouyang Xiu mentioned in "New Book of Tang Dynasty" that the state-owned grid city in Bohai is the soy, the cloth of Xianzhou, the cotton of Wozhou, the dwarf of Longzhou, the iron of Weicheng, and the rice of Lucheng. In addition, " Wei Shu·Wuji Biography also mentions that the prime minister of the country and the occasional plow, the soil is rich in millet, wheat, rice, and sunflower. How can you say that you can’t get food? And there are dense mountains and forests, near the river and the sea, and you only rely on fishing and hunting It can also support many people.” Zhao Xingde is familiar with classics and history, and after he arrived in Liaodong, he put more effort into it. In the Bohai Sea and Mohe hometown of the Yalu River and the Gunmen River generation, he found many relics of food planting in history, and even There are also place names such as "Maizigou".Therefore, he firmly believed that as long as cold-resistant crops were planted, hundreds of thousands of Han people in eastern Liaodong could be fed there.

Wang Ji wondered: "Can it really be planted? Who is Ouyang Xiu? Can Mr. Zhao ask him to give advice." Most of the generals of the Han army led their troops to fight by relying on the tricks passed down from their ancestors.When Wang Ji was young, he lived in the Han village of Kaizhou. He practiced bow and horse every day and worked hard to learn words. He only read "Sun Tzu's Art of War", "36 Strategies" and "March Model" compiled by Xia Guojun Division. I don't even know who Mr. Ouyang Xiu is.

"Mr. Ouyang is dead," Zhao Xingde said with some amusement, "but he is a man of great knowledge, so he probably wouldn't just make it up." While speaking, he had already arrived at the commander's mansion.In fact, it is just a neat tent, the future commander's mansion should be still under construction.

Zhao Xingde brought two centurions, Liu Zhijian and Du Chuijiao, and four three-inch cannons on this trip, mainly to train gunners for the Han army.Tong Yunjie and more than a hundred Han troops who had received artillery training at Phoenix Mountain earlier also followed.Laiyuancheng and Kaizhou were brought down by artillery and blasting the city walls. After the Han army learned of this situation, they paid more attention to the role of artillery.The first batch of artillery has not yet arrived in Liaodong, Han Ningshuang has already proposed to buy artillery and ammunition again, and asked the Xia** Armament Department to send craftsmen to come to Liaodong to cast the artillery nearby.The Huguo Mansion has been delaying in replying, probably because it does not want the art of casting artillery to fall into the hands of the Liao Kingdom.Chunyuzhen was very happy, and wrote to Zhao Xingde in private, saying that the Laiyuan-Kaizhou battle and the Han army's active demand for artillery ammunition had greatly changed the attitude of the Huguofu. Additional orders have been added, and the iron factory is still promoting the trial production of field artillery with larger caliber and power.

The hundreds of soldiers accompanying him all settled down in the commander's mansion, and Wang Ji went to the commander's mansion to ask when to arrange a visit.Zhao Xingde’s personal visit this time dispelled the suspicion of the Han army on Xia Guoying to a large extent. On the way, he persuaded the Han army to emigrate to the Yalu River and Tumen River for reclamation. Zhao Xingde's expectation was that the army competed for territory.

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"Miss, Mr. Zhao has already arrived at the commander-in-chief's mansion, Wang Du asked when he would come to visit." The maid Sinan whispered through the curtain.When Han Ningshuang returned to Liaodong, she needed someone reliable by her side, so Wang Hengzhi recommended her.Han Ningshuang will ask Han Ningshuang for a lot of things, so there will be delays, so Han Ningshuang asks the maids around her to report to her at any time.

"Well, let him wait first. We will have a banquet in the evening."

Han Ningshuang just took a bath, facing the mirror, wrapped her chest tightly with a fine white cloth, and combed her black hair into a man's bun after drying.She smiled slightly in the mirror, her face was like a peach calyx, and her skin was rosy.Only then did I apply the special gouache on the face to make the cheeks look a little yellowish, and use the eyebrow pencil to look in the mirror to thicken the eyebrows a little bit, and then carefully put the bun hair around on the red headband In the towel, a lock of hair is not allowed to hang down.

Han Ningshuang coughed lightly, her voice was crisp, and then she lowered her voice a bit, she first smiled, then made a face that was watery, and finally took a long breath, patted her chest, satisfied with her performance .Commanding the Han army as a daughter, she has been extremely cautious over the years, always unwilling to let others despise her because of this, and lose the reputation of her ancestors.Even if she thought about marrying a husband and raising children, she always had more worries of one kind or another.The Han family has no other descendants, and the Han army can accept a woman as a marshal, but Han Ningshuang's marriage itself has become a major event for the Han army.If this person is mediocre and incompetent, everyone will lose face, but if it is the opposite, Han Ningshuang is more likely to lose the power to command the Han army directly, and her husband-in-law will take over everything.

"I won't marry." She said to the mirror angrily, tied her forehead tightly with a green mop forehead, and a white jade was inlaid on the mop forehead. In the mirror, she looked like a young and heroic general. The image of Marshal Han familiar to the generals.

Note: In the Liao Dynasty, the Gunmen River is now the Tumen River.