Great Han Empire

Chapter 59 Yanzhao Fengyun
Li Hong saw Xian Yufu again.

Xian Yufu led four hundred cavalry into Lulong Sai at high speed.Li Hong rushed to meet him, smiling happily, and shouted from a distance: "Master Xianyu, why do you have time to go to Lulongsai?"

Xian Yufu has lost a lot of weight compared to years ago, probably because he has been too tired recently.He is now the official in charge of military affairs in the Governor's Mansion of Youzhou. Now that there are frequent wars in Youzhou and emergency everywhere, how can he not be worried.

Xianyu Fufei got off his horse and saluted Li Hong as a subordinate.

Li Hong is now a military commander, and his rank salary is one thousand shi. (In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the rank salary was converted into grain. One thousand shi was about 80 grains. In the Han Dynasty, one hu was 120 catties, and one catty is about 250 grams today.) The level, rank and salary are the same as the county magistrate of a large county.In the Han Dynasty, the salary quota of "several stones" was used to mark the bureaucratic rank, which was the so-called "salary rank", and there were about [-] ranks.

Army Sima can lead at least two 800 troops in the army, and is a grassroots official in the army.Although the official is not very big, as far as his age is concerned, he is less than 20 years old, and it is rare to have such a position in the army.If it weren't for the glorious record in the defense of Lulongsai, if it weren't for the only officer who survived the Lulongsai war, the position of Sima in this army would not be his turn anyway.As far as his status as a commoner is concerned, throughout his life, he has achieved the position of military marshal and received a monthly salary of [-] shi, which is already the peak.

In the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, the founding monarch of the country, conquered the world by relying on the class promoted by military merit, so the military class in the Han Dynasty has always been very powerful. The relatives of the emperor, bureaucrats and aristocrats took turns in power, resulting in the rapid decline of the military class.

But now Li Hong is different. The official position of military commander has made him break away from the status of a commoner, and he has become a small bureaucrat in a blink of an eye.In the army, the military Sima can lead troops to fight alone, and has many opportunities to accumulate military exploits. The bosses he contacts are all high-ranking military and political officials. As long as he works hard, promotion will naturally come naturally.

The governor of Youzhou was a strange position in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.At the beginning of Emperor Xiaowu's reign, 13 governors were appointed, and the rank salary was 18 shi.When he became emperor, he was even more herdsman, with a rank and salary of two thousand stones.In the [-]th year of Jianwu, he was renamed the governor again, and his rank and salary were restored to six hundred stones.But its powers have remained unchanged.Every year, the governor of the state will inspect the various counties in the state in July and August, assess the achievements of local officials, handle some major litigation cases, inspect some local celebrities and talents, and then go to Kyoto at the beginning of the next year to play the emperor.The governor's memorial played a very important role in the promotion, appointment and removal of local officials, as well as in the selection and recommendation of talents.He has great power, but very little rank and salary.

Therefore, there are even fewer subordinates who follow the governor.Xiang Xianyufu, a meritorious Cao, is the main subordinate official of the governor's office. When he arrives in the county, the county magistrate will go out to greet him in person, but his rank and salary is only a pitiful three hundred stones, which is only equivalent to a county lieutenant or a village chief. rank salary.

Although Li Hong was the chief of Lulongsai's garrison, he did not dare to neglect the officials of the governor's mansion.He was startled when he saw Xian Yufu salute him as a subordinate, and hurried over to help him up:
"Don't dare to do it, don't dare to do it. Mr. Xianyu is embarrassing me."

Xian Yufu ignored his politeness at all, Li Hong was stunned by the first sentence.

"My lord must follow me to Yuyang."

"Why?" Li Hong asked involuntarily.

"When Lord Inspector left Lulongsai last year, His Excellency had predicted the situation in Youzhou this year. Now, as His Excellency said, the Xianbei people and the Karasuma people joined forces again, and the two sides attacked the northern border of Youzhou at the same time. Juyong and Yuyang is now in critical condition and urgently needs to be rescued by the army."

"Approximately how many troops can Mr. Liu draw from the counties and states?"

"Daijun's troops have already gone to support Juyong City. Now only Guangyang County, Youbeiping County, and Lucheng and Yongnu City in Yuyang County can mobilize troops. At most, they can gather 4000 troops."

Li Hong almost fainted after hearing this.In a majestic Han country with a population of more than 5000 million, in Youzhou, a border county in the northern border, there are not even tens of thousands of garrisons, which is simply unimaginable.

"Last year, you personally told Mr. Liu that there will be no wars in Lulongsai this year. Once the wars in other places in northern Xinjiang are critical, troops can be dispatched from Lulongsai to support them. Mr. Liu has not received your letter so far. As an emergency document, he was sure that there was no major military situation in Lulongsai, so he sent me here day and night, first to ask for help from the prefect, and second, if Lulongsai cannot send troops to support, he will also borrow you."

Li Hong looked at Xian Yufu with strange eyes.

"Master Liu believes in your talent. He thinks you can defeat the Xianbei army." Xian Yufu smiled wryly, looked at Li Hong sympathetically and said, "In this situation, who has the confidence to defeat the Xianbei cavalry, except Madmen and idiots."

He took out a small bamboo slip sealed with wax paint from his pocket and handed it to Li Hong, "This is the authorization of the governor, you can command the support troops of Guangyang County and Yuyang County."

Li Hong received it in a daze, and said foolishly, "I can't leave Lulongsai without permission."

Xian Yufu nodded: "I know. Take me to see the prefect quickly."

Liu Zheng looked down at his white hands and remained silent.

Xian Yufu sat on the table wearily, and Li Hong next to him asked him in a low voice why there were so few frontier troops in Youzhou?Xian Yufu glanced at Liu Zheng vigilantly, then said in a low voice:

"Now the government of the Great Han Kingdom is completely controlled by the emperor's relatives and eunuchs. All the officials, big and small, and powerful clans in various places rely on them to survive. With their support, these local officials and powerful officials wantonly annexed the land and exploited the people. The Great Han Countless wealth of the country was concentrated in the hands of these people, resulting in the strange phenomenon of extremely rich ministers and powerful families, extremely poor countries and people. Tens of thousands of people have been busy for a whole year, often not enough to pay the rent. Taxes. Last year’s Yellow Turban riots spread widely, which is not unrelated to this reason.”

"The country is too poor, and there are few border wars, so the army is reduced. In order to deduct more military pay, officers at all levels falsely report the number of people. As a result, the number of troops has dropped sharply."

"Due to the Yellow Turban riots last year, the number of troops was small, and it was not easy to clear up. Therefore, His Majesty authorized all states and counties to appropriately recruit troops to expand the army. If it were not for the expansion of the army last year, there would be even fewer soldiers in Youzhou this year."

What else did Li Hong want to ask, but Liu Zheng spoke up.

"Subject, are you sure that Wu Yan and Mijia will not suddenly attack Lulongsai when Lulongsai's troops are empty?"

"My lord, I have explained it in detail many times. They really don't have the strength to attack again. For them, last year's disastrous defeat cannot be recovered in one or two years. Even if they want to attack, how can they attack without tens of thousands of people?" Can they break through Lulongsai? The Eastern Xianbei and Wuyan both suffered big losses last year. If they want to gather a large army and encourage more tribes to send troops and money, it is simply an act of fishing out the water and will not get the response of most tribal leaders. Murong Feng The main force of Xianbei in the middle of the country is besieging Yuyang, so he will not be so stupid as to fight on two fronts at the same time, and divide his troops to attack Lulongsai."

"But if we delay the opportunity and don't go to support Yuyang, resulting in the fall of Yuyang and letting the Xianbei iron cavalry fall, there will be no point in defending a Lulongsai? The people in the state were ravaged and massacred by the enemy, and the flames of war were burning everywhere in northern Xinjiang. What problems can be solved by defending a small Lulongsai at this time? Can it drive away the barbarians and recover their homes? Can it save the souls groaning in the flames of war? Do you want to show off the inviolable majesty of our Great Han Kingdom?"

Li Hong blushed excitedly, and said loudly: "My lord, once the Xianbei people break through Juyong and capture Yuyang, their power will be united in the northern part of Youzhou, and at this time Lu Longsai will be in a situation where there will be enemies from both sides. , It’s a piece of desperate land with no danger at all. If they surround us for a few months, they will starve us to death.”

Liu Zheng's well-maintained face twitched a few times nervously following Li Hong's waving hands.Li Hong's words finally moved him, forcing him to make up his mind to send troops to support Yuyang City.

"My people, how many people should be left guarding Lulong Sai?"

"1000 people is enough." Seeing that Liu Zheng had agreed to send troops to support, Li Hong was pleasantly surprised and exchanged an excited look with Xian Yufu.

"The reinforcements have just arrived, and they are very tired. It is not suitable for another long journey. You can take the 2000 troops from Lulongsai and set off immediately." Once Liu Zheng made up his mind, he acted vigorously.He immediately gave the order to go.Rescuing soldiers is like putting out fires, and timing is everything. Everyone understands this truth.

Xian Yufu knelt down in front of Liu Zheng and kowtowed three times in a row to express his gratitude to him.

Liu Zheng waved his hand, signaled him to get up, and said with a smile: "Tell your lord, You Beiping County has limited capabilities, and only Li Zimin, 2000 people, can be transferred. More than half of these 2000 people were rescued by Li Zimin from the Xianbei people." The horse thieves who came out did not have Li Zimin, so there would be no reinforcements from Lulongsai. If you can defeat the invasion of the Hu people, I hope your adults will not forget to support Li Zimin."

Li Hong was moved in his heart, and quickly knelt down to salute Liu Zheng, and said loudly:

"My lord, please be at ease. In this battle, the people will live up to your lord's expectations. They will fight to the death to repel the barbarians and protect our country. Once the battle is over, they will return to Lulongsai immediately and return to serve under your lord's command."

Liu Zheng stretched out his hand to help him up, took a deep look at him, and suddenly stretched out his hand to smooth the strands of long hair scattered on Li Hong's chest to the back of his shoulder.Although the movements were subtle and inadvertent, they were so warm, full of love and care for the younger generation from the kind elders.Li Hong felt a surge of excitement in his heart, and his eye sockets were involuntarily moist.

The war here is dangerous, who knows if we will meet again in the future?

Liu Zheng didn't speak, but just patted Li Hong's shoulder vigorously.

Li Hong gave another salute and strode out.

The moon is shining in the sky, and the stars are dotted with stars. It is a great opportunity to kill the enemy and serve the country.

Li Hong roared: "Beat the drums, let's set off as a whole team."

In an instant, the thunderous sound of war drums shook the whole of Lulongsai.

Standing on the hillside, Li Hong watched the [-] cavalry warriors galloping across the Xuwu Plain, feeling heavy in his heart.Xian Yufu stood beside him and asked softly:

"grown ups……"

Li Hong raised his hand to stop him from continuing.

"We used to go through life and death together, fighting side by side, there is no need to be so polite to each other. I don't like you calling me my lord, really. I want to call you Brother Yuxing, but you respectfully call me my lord every time. I can't export it. Are we really unfamiliar?"

Xian Yufu never thought that Li Hong would say such a thing, and was stunned for a moment, with a very embarrassed expression on his face.

Li Hong laughed: "Brother Yu Xing called me a citizen, isn't it good?"

"You can step down..."

"Communications between people and between friends are all about congeniality. If you were in Lulongsai, you would be the commander of the army. The size of the official position can make you and me unable to be friends. ?"

Xian Yufu was very moved.In fact, in his heart, he still wanted to make friends with Li Hong very much.It's just because of his official position, age, or because the time we've been together is very short, in short, it's hard for Xian Yufu to call someone he respects like a friend.But Li Hong didn't think so, he felt awkward when he heard it, he wanted to make friends with Xian Yufu, he felt that Xian Yufu looked like a very stable, reliable and talented person.

"The battle of Yuyang is uncertain. Maybe you and I will die there." Li Hong said with a wry smile.

Xian Yufu couldn't say anything.

"We will go to Xu Wucheng after dawn, shall we take a rest?"

Li Hong suddenly thought of Xiao Yu.

Gu Yu gently opened the door.

Her heart beat violently.She saw Li Hong with disheveled hair and armor.

Li Hong stood outside the door, smiling all over his face, looking at her silently.

"Are you okay?" Li Hong asked softly.

Gu Yu nodded, her big delicate and beautiful eyes were full of surprise and joy.

Li Hong kept looking at her, silent.Thinking of how this woman will live if she dies in battle?Who will protect her?Jiming's dying cry seemed to ring in his ears again.

Li Hong felt a sharp pain in his heart, the smile on his face suddenly disappeared, and his eyes were filled with endless sadness and helplessness.He couldn't help thinking of the heartbroken Fengxue.She has arrived in Fuyu country now, how is she?
Gu Yu seemed to understand the sadness in Li Hong's eyes, she leaned weakly against the door frame, her mouth mumbled, unable to utter a word.

Lei Zi moved many things into the house.Then he flew on his horse and waited for Li Hongdi to leave.

"Xiao Yu, I'll come and see you." Li Hong calmed down and said slowly, "The army is going to march."

The two looked at each other, and neither of them spoke.

The sadness and helplessness on Gu Yu's face became more and more intense, almost making Li Hong breathless.

"Take care of yourself."

Li Hong didn't look at Gu Yu any more, turned around and got on his horse, and got out of the dust.

Gu Yu's tears rolled down.

(End of this chapter)