In the local shooting ceremony, the final winner was Murong Nobunaga. Zhang Zhao was not surprised by this result.
Although Murong Nobunaga was not good at dismounting and wearing heavy armor to fight on foot, after all, he was still a young man in his early teens, and his physical development and fat reserves were far from being comparable to that of Barbarian Xiong Dunzhu.
But he also had his own advantages. Murong Nobunaga, who came from a noble family, actually did not want to develop into infantry combat. His development direction was towards cavalry.
This can be seen from his body. He is tall, has long legs, and has long arms. He also has a good ability to shoot the bow left and right with one hand.
And because he comes from a noble family, his riding skills are very good. He has also been trained by masters in raising horses and treating war horses. His riding and shooting skills may be even better.
Therefore, in the competition of the local archery ceremony, Murong Nobunaga won the first place in mounted archery and equestrian skills, the second place in equestrian skills, and the third place in foot shooting, becoming the extraordinary first champion of Guiyi. Lang.
In fact, Zhang Zhao also understood in his heart that in addition to the advantages Murong Nobunaga had above, he also had another advantage, and that was his special relationship with himself.
For example, in the finals of the mounted archery competition, Zhang Zhao felt that Ma Shacai was a little more reserved.
Outside Shouchang Town, Ma Shacai took advantage of his war horses and captured Murong Nobunaga.
Although there are elements of trickery, Ma Shacai is still slightly better than Murong Nobunaga in actual combat.
But this time, in the final battle, Ma Shacai's last shot was abnormal and he gave up the first place. Zhang Zhao always felt that it was not a mistake, but intentional.
The top pick is Murong Nobunaga, and the second place is Ma Yaozi. On Zhang Zhao's side, Ma Yaozi is a hexagonal warrior who can fight both on and off the horse.
Ma Yaozi undoubtedly became the second best player in Guiyi after he also had this ability but was already the commander-in-chief of a town. Yan Jin did not choose to end the game personally.
Tanhualang is a wild bear. He relied entirely on his powerful foot combat skills to offset his disadvantages in other aspects and got into the position of Tanhualang.
And this local shooting ceremony is not just about deciding the top three and making everyone excited for several days.
It is through this event that the Han people, Sogdians and people of the six tribes in Liangzhou will understand.
As long as you have a certain skill, you can stand out from Zhang Sikong, get benefits, and become a master.
Unlike the original, no matter how powerful you are, you can only serve the tribe leader and get three melons and two dates after working hard.
At the same time, it also made them understand that the person who really calls the shots in Liangzhou has changed, and Zhang Sikong is the leader of everyone.
After the local shooting ceremony was over, the two brothers Su Runyan and Su Runluxin, who came from Lanzhou, also started to return to Lanzhou.
Zhang Zhao secretly sneered. According to the current situation, Lanzhou has at least 20,000 households and a population of 140,000.
If in later generations, such a large place had only a few hundred thousand people, it would probably be an extremely poor and remote area.
But in Longyou, Hexi Province, now, with a population of more than 100,000, it is basically the richest state below Liangzhou.
In such a prosperous place, the forces must be very complex and there are many tribes.
But in the end, only Su Lunjia came, and only under Zhang Zhao's forcible orders through Weiyan Temple.
This is completely disrespectful to me, Zhang Sikong!
Especially the Han and Qiang clan, which was entrenched in Lanzhou City and headed by the Wang family, did not even send a single person.
Sure enough, the last thing people can give up is power. In fact, Zhang Zhao really wanted the Wang family to return home after hearing the news, but these people wanted to force him to take action himself.
So the question now is whether to attack Lanzhou or Ganzhou first?
According to the current deployment, attacking Ganzhou should be the top priority, but Yin Yaozi had a different view on this. He shook his head, looked at Zhang Zhao and said.
"Since Sikong took charge of Liangzhou, we first repaired Liangzhou City and the two county towns of Guzang and Shenniao, and rebuilt the Five Forts of Liangzhou.
Later, more than 200,000 tribesmen were resettled around Liangzhou, and Minqin County was newly established. Hundreds of thousands of people were recruited successively.
Although Sikong financed the expenses with gold and silver from his personal treasury, the grain purchased with these gold and silver was the maximum that could be produced around Liangzhou.
If we launch a large army to attack Ganzhou at the beginning of the year, the food problem will be a very serious problem."
Zhang Chao nodded, the problem Yin Yaozi mentioned does exist.
After Zhang Zhao launched so many large-scale recruitment campaigns, the price of grain in Liangzhou has risen from 20 yuan for a bushel of corn to 28 yuan.
Although this is also due to the fact that food prices at the end of the year are bound to be higher than during the harvest, it does prove that both the Han people and the people of the Six Tribes have little food in their hands.
In two months, it will be the season for planting corn and spring wheat. If a war is launched at this time, it will greatly affect this year's food security.
Yan Jin also added: "Although the Ganzhou Uighurs lost thousands of troops in the last battle at Suzhou, they lost more than 60% of their soldiers.
But he has been an enemy of our Guiyi Army for decades and will not give in easily.
If Ganzhou is to be destroyed, more than 4,000 troops must be mobilized and tens of thousands of civilians must be recruited. With so much civilian power, this year's spring wheat planting will definitely be affected.
If only a few thousand troops and horses are dispatched, like Suzhou last time, it may be difficult to break through Ganzhou City.
But Lanzhou is different. The various tribes in Lanzhou are inextricably linked with Liangzhou. The Su Lun family actually moved to Liangzhou from among the six tribes.
In addition, although there are more than 100,000 people in Lanzhou, they belong to various tribes and are not unified.
We don't need to send out a large army, we only need more than a thousand elites, and then we can divide them and use bribery tactics to defeat them one by one.
Moreover, Sikong had issued an order a month ago, requiring the leaders of various ministries in Lanzhou to send people to Liangzhou to explain the attack on the angels.
But in the end, only the children of the Su Lun family came, and the other tribes turned a deaf ear. This was a challenge to Sikong's majesty.
If Sikong doesn't severely punish these families, who else in Longyou, Hexi, will listen to us?"
That's right. Zhang Zhao nodded. This was the most important reason why he hesitated whether to go to Lanzhou or Ganzhou first.
He Zhang Zhao issued threats to the Lanzhou ministries, but the Lanzhou ministries refused to come, and if he could not punish those who did not come, his prestige would be seriously affected.
"Li Cunhui, take a hundred cavalry and go south immediately to recover brothers Su Lunyan and Su Luxin, and make it clear that you want to punish the various ministries in Lanzhou.
If the Su Lun family is willing to act as internal coordinator, the future governor of Lanzhou will be their family. If they are not willing, when I conquer Lanzhou, the whole family will be slaves!"
"Here!" Li Cunhui answered with his hands crossed, immediately stood up and went out, summoning his cavalry to chase the Su Lun brothers.
They had just left Liangzhou for only half a day. If they were fast, they would definitely be able to catch up.
"Yan Jin, you are responsible for recruiting a thousand people from the brave men of various ministries, and then five hundred people from Hanhai Town, and let Ma Shacai and Er Zhujing prepare to go to Lanzhou."
Among the so-called three irons in life, one of them has carried a gun. The warrior Zhang Chao of Liangzhou gave them titles, official positions, gold, silver, rice and grain, so they must be used in a timely manner.
By using them, they will have a sense of belonging and regard Zhang Zhao as one of their own.
....
The arrangements for Lanzhou have been completed. Although they will not attack Ganzhou for the time being, the strategy of weakening Ganzhou cannot be stopped.
"Cao Wantong, let your Sogdian Chamber of Commerce continue to purchase grain from Ganzhou. It doesn't matter how expensive the price is."
Cao Wentong nodded, but said with some embarrassment: "The last time Ganzhou passed through Sikong's rush to buy grain and grass, the amount of corn was much higher than that in Liangzhou, and it was already more than 40 yuan a bushel.
If the acquisition continues, people from Liangzhou may regard rice from Liangzhou as rice from Ganzhou."
Zhang Zhao knew what Cao Wentong meant. As a Sogdian, if you have money to make, you probably don't have much of a bottom line.
Now the price of grain in Ganzhou is twice that of Liangzhou. Before Zhang Zhao did not let Cao Wantong continue to purchase grain from Ganzhou, the situation actually occurred that Liangzhou corn flowed to Ganzhou.
Zhang Zhao turned cold and looked at Shen Nianban next to him, "Shen Nianban, you immediately mobilize three hundred cavalrymen from each department, the chiefs of each county and township, and the Zhongjie Colonel in the township will also listen to your command to form a visiting team.
.
From today on, anyone who dares to sell grain from Liangzhou to Ganzhou will be jailed for one dou, beheaded for ten dou, and be punished as a herdsman by his whole family for more than fifty dou.
Anyone who dares to purchase grain locally in Liangzhou and sell it as Ganzhou grain will have his whole family beheaded!"
"Here!" Shen Nianban also stood up and crossed his arms in response.
Zhang Chao thought for a moment and continued: "The visiting team will be commanded by Shen Nianban, but they must fully listen to the opinions of Cao Wantong's boss."
Cao Wantong was immediately overjoyed. He had been in charge of the purchase of Ganzhou grain, and now he had the help of the prison visiting team. He immediately had the power!
From Liangzhou to Ganzhou, there are so many merchants going west. With this authority in hand, they all have to listen to Cao Wantong!
Although things are indeed a bit more troublesome and more people are offended, the power is greater.
After the plan was completed, Zhang Zhao asked everyone to go down and prepare separately. He would wait until the spring plowing was completed and the grain and grass were ready before attacking Ganzhou.
But for Zhang Zhao, the strategy of buying Ganzhou grain at high prices was just a light order.
But when it fell on the heads of the Uighurs in Ganzhou, it was like the top of Mount Tai.
Cao Wantong was actually conservative, and the situation in Ganzhou was even more terrifying than what he had received.
Just after the Lantern Festival, the price of corn in Ganzhou soared from almost 50 qian per dou to 60 qian per dou, and it is still rising.
Because after last year's autumn harvest, Liangzhou harvested grain from Ganzhou at a price that was 50% higher than the market price.
Moreover, traders of all ethnic groups who came to Liangzhou from Ganzhou were forced to carry a certain amount of rice before they could clear customs in Liangzhou.
This is too cruel! If it is profitable, farmers are naturally willing to sell it, and merchants want to pass customs, so they can only buy it vigorously.
By the time Ganzhou Renyu Khan reacted, Ganzhou had lost more than 100,000 shi of grain in at least two months.
This is definitely very serious for the Ganzhou Uighurs, who only have a population of over 200,000.
Even now, no matter how high the price of food is in Ganzhou, there are still people who collect it, so that food has become a better store of value than gold, silver, and cloth.
As a result, thieves arose in various places, horse thieves were everywhere, and what they plundered was no longer gold and silver, but food.
The bandits sold the robbed grain to Liangzhou through various channels. At the same time, during the Battle of Suzhou, Yao Geluo Tongli, who wanted to replace Renyu Khan, also lived in the southwest of Ganzhou.
With no choice but to express his allegiance to Zhang Zhao, he also continued to transport Ganzhou grain to Liangzhou through the mountain roads in the southwest of Ganzhou, making the situation in Ganzhou even worse.
Instigated by Zhang Zhao, a cruel economic war is about to reach its climax.