Dawn of the Empire

451 Chapter 85

"It's better to not have enough to eat than to be killed by Liao thieves. The minimum cavalry must be maintained." Zhao Xingde said, "If we don't do this, it is tantamount to 'suicide'. Grass."

Hearing Zhao Xingde speak so solemnly, Chen Dong nodded hesitantly.The matter of raising horses has been debated in the court for almost a hundred years.Chen Dong himself is not familiar with the battle formation, but he can still trust Zhao Xingde.But Ma Zheng really wanted to go on, but he didn't know how many twists and turns it would take. Thinking of this, Chen Dong frowned again.

"The matter of keeping horses should not be greedy and easy, and leave it to the prefectures and counties. It is not beautiful to make it 'force' the people." Zhao Xingde said slowly, "It is best to circle around the cavalry garrison, where the water and grass are lush and suitable. A large flat land where horses gallop gallop, and a military horse farm is specially established. Horses like to be in groups, and it is best to form a group of hundreds or thousands of horses. The grass fodder is planted by the people, and the government bids for the grass in exchange for the grass, so that the people can take advantage of it. This kind of horse management can not only take good care of the war horses, but also occupy less land.” Xia Guo implemented the field and grass rotation system, both To keep the soil from degrading and obtain fodder for livestock, in addition to large pastures, ordinary farmers in Guanzhong also raise reining horses that can be used both as a harness and a ride.

Chen Dong nodded, and said: "General Yue and Yuan Zhi agree on raising horses. He also insists on expanding the cavalry."

At this time, someone came to Zhao Xingde again.Liu Hong, nicknamed "Tattooed Beast", was the leader of the water bandits in Daozhou. He casually handed over a piece of writing paper. Zhao Xingde took it over and looked at it, but his brows frowned.The handwriting on the paper was crooked, and it was written that the captured wars in the future would be owned by the soldiers of all ministries.But this is not the point. What really made Zhao Xingde frown was that Liu Hong and others said that any city or village that resisted would be counted as an enemy, and all property in the city could be counted as captured.

"I'm afraid this is a bit inappropriate." Zhao Xingde said with a serious face, "If the city is full of northern captives, then it's okay. If the people living in the city are the people of the Song Dynasty, if the Liao bandits are driven away, they will be looted What is the difference between us and Liao thieves?"

"Brothers are bleeding and sweating," Liu Hong sneered, "If you don't think about it, how can you be willing to fight?" In the future, if every place is captured and looted, everyone can make a lot of money.When the officers and soldiers were sweeping Pingla, they did this kind of thing a lot.

"Looting the people of the Great Song Dynasty for no reason is not enough!" Zhao Xingde said slowly, "If the Liao bandits were driven away just now, and the officers and soldiers plundered wantonly again, Chief Liu, compare your heart with your heart, how different do you think the officers and soldiers are from the Liao bandits? Woolen cloth?"

Liu Hong's face was a little embarrassed and he said: "The people in that city also contributed to the Liao thieves."

"But their heart is for the Song Dynasty!" Zhao Xingde said coldly, "The people will not contribute to the Liao bandits if there is a chance." He said to Liu Hong: "The clothes on our bodies and the food in our mouths, It's all about the people's fat and people's anointing. It is admirable for the soldiers to fight on the battlefield, but it is not easy for the people to support the officers and soldiers. Heroes, many of them are well aware of the sufferings of the people. 'Baoyi', you can't do such heartless and unrighteous things to the people."

Seeing Zhao Xingde's resolute attitude, Liu Hong nodded and said, "What about the enemy's property?"

Zhao Xingde said: "Naturally, the meritorious soldiers will be rewarded according to their merits. However, bulk military supplies such as food, cloth, fodder, and materials must be arranged uniformly by the entire army. They are not worth much at first. If everyone distributes them privately, it will be ruined." Liu Hong's face showed joy. The so-called money and silk are touching, but what the brothers like is actually gold and silver.Zhao Xingde's reputation for benevolence and righteousness is well known throughout the world, and Liu Hong originally did not expect him to agree to plunder the people without distinction.How much can food and fodder be worth?Zhao Xingde has seen big battles, but he knows that the most important thing to capture is the food and supplies hoarded by the army, so he is simply happy to be a favor.

After Liu Hong resigned, Chen Dong sighed: "It's really hard for Yuan Zhi to subdue these corrupt and violent people!" He remembered that in many states and counties, the real people in Lishe were squeezed out by the local tyrants, so he couldn't help but sigh Tone, frown deeply.People in Lishe respect the emperor and don't follow the orders of "chaos". After acquiring the prefectures and counties, they originally wanted to elect "true ministers" to control the overall situation and act as political affairs agents.But now many prefectures and counties are not under the control of Lishe scholars, and Chen Dong dare not rashly summon the counties to recommend false figures, and he might be self-defeating and make wedding dresses for others.Before he rushed to Yuezhou to meet Zhao Xingde, he had been contacting and testing the attitudes of various forces, contacting local gentry who were more considerate of the overall situation.

After Chen Dong felt emotional, he proposed that in addition to Hu Haojiezhi who had taken refuge in the Baoyi Army, some Taixue scholars who had served in the Baoyi Army and some volunteer soldiers from prefectures and counties should also be allocated to the Baoyi Army to serve as Zhao Xingde's wings. He controls the soldiers and horses.Zhao Xingde also agreed.The two discussed it again, and then they parted.

On this day, heroes from all walks of life came to Zhao Xingde one after another.As long as there is a grace that can be agreed, Zhao Xingde readily agrees.And those who cannot agree, try to discount as little as possible, and partially meet the requirements of these future subordinates.He is magnanimous, but it made the heroes from all walks of life happy to see Lie Xin, and they all knew that what Zhao Xingde said was not false, so they racked their brains even more to put forward more suggestions.At dusk, Zhao Xingde had accumulated a thick stack of rules and regulations at hand.During the dinner, when all the heroes toasted Zhao Xingde, there was a lot of intimacy in their words.

After dinner, Lu Mingyu came to see Zhao Xingde in person, and after reporting to him the matter of ships and supplies, he saw that the handwriting on the white paper on Zhao Xingde's case was still fresh, as if he was transcribing the grace clauses himself, and he couldn't help sighing: "The transcripts are written in these trivial matters. Mr. Zhao can leave it to Lu."

"Mingyu has a heart. There are a lot of repetitions in the grace rules mentioned by the soldiers. When I transcribed them, I sorted them out by the way." Zhao Xingde took out the transcribed pages and handed them to him. , smiled and said: "Do you think it's okay to watch?"

Lu Mingyu didn't dare to be negligent, so he took it and looked it over carefully, and saw that it was irrelevant at first, and the rules and regulations, like a hammer in the east and a mallet in the west, had been sorted out by Zhao Xingde, just like the real court regulations, divided into different categories It is clear, and the words are not obscure. Even if it is read to an illiterate person, the listener can understand it.As Lu Mingyu watched, he clicked his tongue in admiration.

"After these rules are all out," Zhao Xingde said in a low voice, "make a pass, and help me tell the heroes from all over the place. The Baoyi Army sincerely recruits heroes from all over the world to fight against the Liao thieves together."

"Obey." Lu Mingyu felt a surge of excitement.This text was negotiated by all the heroes, who else in the world has an agreement that attracts the hearts of heroes more than it?Lu Mingyu expected that if Zhao Xingde did what he said, the reckless heroes in the southeast would definitely hear the news, and there would be an endless stream of defectors. "Mr. Zhao's insight into people's hearts," Lu Mingyu said secretly, "the deep meaning in this is indeed beyond my reach." A spark flashed in his eyes, as if he saw the gathering of heroes from all directions, the banners of the army, and the strong soldiers of Baoyi .

He hurried out and almost bumped into someone inadvertently. When he looked up, it was Shi Jingkui who said, "Boss Lu, I'm sorry."

Lu Mingyu hurriedly smiled and said, "Brother Shi is out." He walked a few steps, stopped again, and looked back.I saw the candles flickering in Zhao Xingde's residence, and the shadow of the man was reflected on the wall, it looked very huge, like a black giant about Zhang tall, occupying most of the room.

The identities of these people around Zhao Xingde are definitely not as simple as ordinary followers.Du Chuijiao once made a bet with the people in the water village that he chopped a bundle of thick moso bamboo with a horizontal knife, and it was cut neatly in two.Thinking that Mr. Yuanzhi lived in seclusion for ten years, leaving only these few heroes around him, they will definitely be used as confidantes in the future. Lu Mingyu is also polite to Shi Jingkui, Du Chuijiao and others, and sometimes makes insinuations about their origins, but these few people His words were flickering, without revealing his true identity at all.Lu Mingyu selfishly speculated that maybe it was the hero of the world that Zhao Xingde had subdued in the past.

"General Zhao's memorial, the Military Intelligence Department has reported to the two prefectures with the fastest pigeon post." Shi Jingkui said, and he took out another roll of silk scroll from his bosom, and handed it to Zhao Xingde, with a strange expression on his face, "This is An urgent report for you." Because Zhao Xingde wanted to recruit Jingxiang heroes, he was delayed in Yuezhou, and it didn't take long.The military intelligence department was able to send an urgent report to Yuezhou, which shows that the military intelligence department not only has good eyes and ears, but has been paying attention to Zhao Xingde's situation, and is just waiting for Zhao Xingde to send someone to contact them.

Zhao Xingde nodded, unfolded the silk book, his eyes lit up.This letter was actually written by Li Sihai.When helping the Liaodong Han army, the Fourth Battalion Navy had business dealings with Dongying because of raising food and salaries. Zhao Xingde also reminded Li Sihai that Dongying might have a large silver mine, which would be enough to make the country rich if found.Li Sihai paid attention at that time, and kept sending people to look for clues of the silver mine. After all these years, he finally found it for him.

Because Zhao Xingde was involved in this, Li Sihai wrote a letter and forwarded it to Zhao Xingde through the Military Intelligence Department.The problem now is that although the silver mine is very attractive, the news of the discovery of the silver mine cannot be concealed for long. into the mouths of outsiders.It will take a lot of effort to occupy this silver mine, which is enough to make people rich.However, the Xia Kingdom was already at war with the barbarians in the west, and the Liao Kingdom and the Song Kingdom were fighting in full swing in the east.There are Song and Liao between Dongying and Xia.If it is expected that the Huguofu will send troops to attack Dongpu again, the chances are obviously slim, so Li Sihai estimates that the execution of the Huguofu will most likely be delayed.

Li Sihai said that it would be fine if the silver mine was in the country of Xia. As long as the mining rights of the silver mine were bid for, they would be able to secure a large amount of cash, but the mine was not in the country of Xia now.At that time, it is hard to say that other wealthy businessmen in Xia Kingdom will not join in.In the past, in other countries, merchants from the Xia Kingdom fought among themselves for the mining rights of mineral deposits, which instead benefited the poor precedent of the Fanbangyi people.