Prancing Horse Xiliang

Chapter 74 Using Captives as Livestock

Luo Zheng was a little angry, and said coldly: "Let's put Zhang Meng's matter aside for the time being, and then I will settle accounts with this guy slowly. But at the moment, the food that our army has robbed along the way has been eaten, although there are still 1 stones of military food, cattle and sheep Thousands of heads, but not enough for more than [-] people to eat until next year's autumn harvest, Lingju has been fighting for years, and the people are estimated to have run away, so there must be no military rations, and we need to prepare food and grass."

Xu Chu said loudly: "The Qiang people have cattle and sheep, so just rob the Qiang people."

Luo Zheng glared at him angrily, and said: "Blindly looting is no different from robbers!"

Xu Chu was puzzled, not knowing what he said wrong.

Haven't you been robbing since you entered Liangzhou?
How come Cangsong is no longer allowed to rob.

Xun Yu explained: "General Xu Chu didn't know something. Relying on plunder to support the army is only a temporary strategy, and it is not the right way. Besides, there are not many people in Lingju. Even if all the nearby Qiang people are robbed, it may not be possible to rob them." It is enough to allow more than 1 people to eat the grain and fodder for the autumn harvest next year. More importantly, if the general wants to appease the Xiqiang people, he cannot just plunder the Qiang people blindly. situation, and will completely force the Qiang people to the opposite side."

"This one……"

Xu Chu scratched his head, and only then did he understand.

Li Meng, Wang Fang and other generals were also stunned, and each of them frowned.

If you can't rob the Qiang people, where can you get the grain and grass for the winter?
These men are good at killing people, so let them find a way to solve the problem, but it is a bit difficult for them.

Luo Zheng rubbed his brows, and said with a headache: "Eight thousand shi army rations, plus more than 5000 cattle and sheep, even if you live frugally, it will only be enough to eat until the spring of next year, and it will take at least five months to get the autumn grain. Maybe we have to resettle the civilians and refugees under the command of the Lieutenant Department of Huqiang School, so much food and grass, where can we go to grab it, what can Wen Ruoke do?"

Xun Yu frowned and thought for a while, then said: "There is no other way, let's go to Ling Ju Hu Qiang's lieutenant's department first!"

Luo Zheng said: "That's the only way."

It was night, and the army set up camp in the south of Cangsong, preparing to rest for the night, and set off to live south the next day.

Unexpectedly, at night, it snowed heavily.

The heavy snow came suddenly, without any warning.

By daybreak, the snow on the official road was more than a finger thick, and the heavy snow still showed no sign of stopping.

Luo Zheng had no choice but to camp out and wait for the snow to clear.

This wait is a full five days.

The snow on the official road was almost knee-deep, and it was impossible for horses and chariots to get on the road.

We have to wait until the snow melts and the roads are cleared, probably until the beginning of spring next year.

Luo Zheng couldn't, so he had to order more than 2000 Qiang captives to clear the way in front of Qingxue. More than 1 people lined up on the official road in a long line of snakes, and moved slowly on the cleared official road at a snail's speed.

When it was dark, we had only traveled less than twenty miles, which was not much faster than a snail.

Originally, the journey was less than ten days, but it took a full month to arrive at Lingju.

On the way, many cattle, sheep and horses froze to death. Fortunately, the weather was so cold that they would not be damaged and could be kept as rations.

At this time, the first year of Chuping, the turbulent period of beacon smoke, has passed.

Last night was New Year's Eve, but Luo Zheng and the soldiers were not in the mood for New Year's Eve at all.

Lingju is a small county, and it is also the administrative seat of the Qiang Xiaowei Department.

During the period of Emperor Han and Yuan, the Xiqiang rebelled and united with the Xiongnu to besiege Baohan. The Han court condemned Li Xi and Xu Zi led the army to defeat the Xiqiang. , Zhilingju.

Afterwards, it was abolished many times. During the Zhongping period, after the Qiang Beigong Boyu rebelled, he attacked and killed Lingzheng, the school guard of the Qiang.

The imperial court also took Xia Yu as the guard of the Qiang school captain, and was attacked and killed by the Qiang soldiers before he left Guanzhong.

Since the civil strife in the Central Plains, the Huqiang Xiaowei's mansion existed in name only, and the imperial court never appointed Huqiang Xiaowei again.

By the time Luo Zheng left the town of Xiqiang, the post of guarding the Qiang school lieutenant had been vacant for six years.

Lingju is a small county. The city wall is made of adobe. Due to years of disrepair, it has collapsed in many places. In the open city gate, the two wooden gates have long since disappeared. I don't know if they were taken away by the people and burned as firewood.

On the empty street, the snow showed signs of being cleared, but weeds were overgrown, bricks and stones were everywhere, and it was very dilapidated.

Seeing this scene, Luo Zheng's heart turned cold.

Judging from this, Lingju is almost an empty city.

It doesn't matter if the city is a bit dilapidated, even if there are no people, can it still be called a city?
Xun Yu, Xu Chu, Zhao Yun, Li Meng, Wang Fang and other generals also looked very ugly and wanted to scold their mothers.

Wu Xi, Lieutenant of the Northern Army Academy, even had a gloomy face. He was doing well in Luoyang, eating delicious food and drinking spicy food. He was full of resentment when he was dispatched to the bitter cold of Liangzhou. Damn.

Luo Zheng reined in his horse and shouted, "Where is Wu Xi?"

Wu Xi urged the horse to go forward, and said in a muffled voice, "What orders does the general have?"

Luo Zhengdao: "Quickly punish people to go to the city to inquire, to see if there are bandits entrenched in the city."

"As ordered."

Wu Xi cupped his hands and went down to make arrangements.

Luo Zheng ordered the army to camp on the spot again, and is not going to enter the city today.

Not long after, the spies sent came back.

There are several groups of bandits occupying the city, about 2000 people.

At this time, the bandits in the city already knew that there was an army coming from outside the city, and they climbed to the top of the city one after another, looking around.

Luo Zheng saw it clearly, and immediately ordered Wu Xi to lead troops into the city to wipe out the bandits in the city.

Soon, [-] Northern Army elites marched with drums and charged in through the North Gate aggressively.

"Damn it, where did the officers and soldiers come from?"

A little bandit leader scolded, "Go and report to the big leader, and say that the officers and soldiers have come in."

"As ordered."

A bandit agreed and flew away.

However, before the leader arrived, three thousand northern troops had already entered the city.

Dozens of bandits gathered at the North Gate saw that the situation was not good, and ran away.

Wu Xi took advantage of the situation to chase and kill, and did not give the bandits a chance to gather and resist. With a destructive force, he wiped out the more than [-] bandits who had never expected the official army to come in a snowy day. More than a hundred people died, and the rest all surrendered.

Luo Zheng placed more than [-] bandits and more than [-] Qiang captives together, and ordered Zhao Yun to lead [-] cavalry to guard them.

Early the next morning, the army marched into Lingju and began to take over the city.

It was freezing cold, and the collapsed city could not be repaired.

Luo Zheng had no choice but to order the sergeant to install a gate for the city gate first, then reorganize the houses in the city a little bit, and settle down [-] troops and [-] civilians, while more than [-] prisoners were detained in the barracks, and they were given a meal in two days. Let's talk.

The official residence of Huqiang School Wei's Mansion has been in disrepair for a long time, and the houses have collapsed in many places, and they still look like they have been burned.

In such a large house, there are not many houses that can live in.

Xu Chu led his soldiers to work for a long time before tidying up a few houses that were still in good condition.

Gan Qian and Ren Yan continued to work with the servants and maids, while Luo Zheng went to the meeting hall.

A corner of the spacious meeting room collapsed, and the walls leaked everywhere. The cold wind blew the snow flakes in, and it hurt like a knife on the face.

Luo Zheng frowned, looked at Xun Yu who was standing on the left side trembling, and said: "Wen Ruo, from today onwards, you are the head of the Qiang School's Lieutenant Department, but all internal affairs are in your hands The general will not ask about the decision."

Xun Yu did his part, cupped his hands and said, "I obey."

Luo Zheng slowed down his tone, and said: "The conditions are a bit difficult, and Wen Ruo has been working hard these days. But the weather is too cold, and Wen Ruo is a scribe, no stronger than me, so I need to add a few more clothes, be careful of getting stained wind chill."

Xun Yu's heart warmed, and he said, "Don't worry, general, next year you will be strong and strong, and you will be able to withstand the severe cold."

Luo Zheng nodded, looked around at the generals and said: "Don't be idle, take the soldiers to repair the city defense, or repair the houses in the city, as much as you can, and then go to the vicinity to get some firewood to burn. Mom, I'm about to freeze to death."

"Hahaha!"

All the generals burst into laughter, and the atmosphere finally became warmer.

Zhao Yundao: "My lord, what should we do with those captives, we can't just keep them like this?"

Li Meng also said: "That's right, our army doesn't have much food and fodder, so it's not a problem to keep those captives for nothing."

Luo Zheng'h' sounded, "These captives are all young and strong, it's a pity to kill them, but they can't be raised in vain. Let's be coolies first, let these captives repair the city walls and houses, or carry firewood. "

Zhao Yun cupped his hands and said, "Obey."

Luo Zheng thought for a while, his eyes showed a fierce look, and he said: "Most of these captives are Qiang people. They are used to robbing houses, and they are a bit rebellious. For the time being, don't treat them as people, just treat them like animals. , and don’t let them eat enough, just eat half full every day, squeeze all the physical strength of these guys, and see if they still have the strength to make trouble.”

"As ordered."

The generals agreed abruptly, and did not feel that it was too much to oppress the captives.

You must know that in this era, killing captives is a common thing.

Luo Zheng did not kill these captives, but just squeezed some physical strength, which is already very kind.

Even a literati like Xun Yu has no opinion on this.

The literati in this era are different from the scholar-bureaucrats in the later Song Dynasty. They don't talk about benevolence and morality, and they don't use the big hat of morality to criticize some barbaric behaviors. They don't think there is anything wrong with abusing captives.

Even when some literati killed foreigners, they would be vicious in the contest of generals.

The phrase "If you are not of my race, your heart must be different" can show the attitude of literati in this era towards foreigners.

(End of this chapter)