Chapter 165 The Secret of Doulu Jun

"These bandits of Ma are cruel and ruthless. They never leave a single survivor after they succeed. It is a lucky thing that Governor Li can escape this time."

Chu Zhilian looked at the messy carriage and arrows on the ground, and said in fear: "They never look at the target. Even the food and grass of the officers and soldiers were robbed. The rules were strict and rewards were clear. The weaker officers and soldiers were not their opponents. Lord Huangfu had a long headache, but he had no choice but to do anything to them."

Li Qing chewed a grass root in his mouth and walked among the crowd. After the horse bandits were all over the ground, the rice bags were split, and the white rice was spread all over the ground. The pots he brought were trampled into an alien shape by horse hooves. More than 100 soldiers were picking up copper coins all over the ground, extending more than a hundred steps north from the carriage containing the money, as if it was paved with countless roads. In the distance, the families of the soldiers who fell were shouting to the sky and the earth, mourning their husbands or sons. During this attack on the horse bandits, twenty-three brothers, including a team leader, two gang leader, and many others were injured. They were all veterans who had been to Nanzhao with Li Qing. Li Qing felt a little sad and made a gesture to call a soldier, "Go and find the Martial Arts Captain."

Wu Xingsu was also slightly injured in the battle. Although he was wearing thick armor, he was still shot by an armor-punched cone arrow from the opponent. The tip of the arrow penetrated the armor and hit the shoulder blade. It was ridiculous. This arrow was his own. The word "wu" was engraved on the shaft. He shot through a person's throat, but was taken back and forth by the leader of the horse bandit.

At this time, he was comforting his family. When Li Qing called him, he hurried over, "What's the matter with the general?"

Li Qing first looked at his injuries and smiled silently, "Your arrows feel friendly!"

Wu Xingsu touched his back and said hatred: "It's okay to be injured, but I can't calm down. I must catch this bandit leader and make up for ten arrows."

Li Qing smiled slightly, "Yes, you will have a chance."

He pointed to the relatives of the fallen soldiers in the distance and said to Wu Xingsu: "Go and explain to them for me that each person will give him a 50-ton pension. When the bandits are pacified, I will send someone to send them back to Chang'an."

Wu Xingsu's order was gone, but Chu Zhilian was surprised and said, "Does Governor Li want to avenge a single arrow?"

“Not exactly!”

Li Qing shook his head and said, "I think it's not that I want to take revenge on this group of horse bandits, but that they will never destroy it. The trade in the Western Regions will be greatly affected. I think the merchants have already complained. I am also a merchant, so how could I not know."

This is the truth. More than half of the customers in Chang'an were from Dashi and Hu merchants from the Western Regions. He served as the governor of Shazhou and wanted to vigorously develop trade. How could these horse bandits cut off their financial path?

Hearing Li Qing's thoughts, a strange expression appeared on Chu Zhilian's face. He moved his mouth and wanted to say something, but he still held it back.

"Does Brother Chu have anything to say to me?"

Li Qing wanted to know the meaning behind Chu Zhilian's expression, but Chu Zhilian bit her mouth and refused to say it again.

After two hours of rectification, the team slowly set off and headed towards Shazhou. Li Qing did not go to Shouchang County, but directly switched to Dunhuang County, which was the prefecture's capital and his home would be there. The curtain had a fetal aura and needed to rest in bed, otherwise there would be a risk of miscarriage.

Shazhou has few people, and the establishment of officials is relatively simple. There are no auxiliary officials like Shangzhou, Sima, and Changshi. There are only one person in the military (equivalent to the secretary-general of the municipal government), and one person in the military (equivalent to the directors of each bureau), and one person in the military (equivalent to the directors of each bureau), while there are no other CPPCC, united front and other things. There are also some minor officials, such as the municipal order, literature, medicine, and this is the official in charge of industry, commerce, education, and health.

However, Shazhou is the governor's prefecture, which is integrated with military and political affairs. Its prefecture officials focus more on military affairs, and most local affairs are completed by subordinate counties. There are only two subordinate counties in Shazhou, Dunhuang County and Shouchang County, among which Dunhuang County is Zhong County, with 3,000 households; while Shouchang County is Xia County, with only 1,000 households.

The establishment of the two counties is relatively simple, similar to Yibin County at that time, so I won't talk about it here, but one thing that must be said is that the political system of the Tang Dynasty has one of the biggest characteristics compared with the Han and Jin Dynasties, that is, officials in the underworld (that is, officials above the ninth rank) must be appointed by the central government, and the governor can only appoint officials at the first level of officials themselves. Their salary is derived from the rent of public land, and the governor even pays it out of his own pocket.

Wang Changling, the former county magistrate of Yibin County, was re-appointed by the court by his recommendation and served as the military officer of Shazhou. Gao Shi agreed to be his aide to help him handle copywriting in order to advance. As for the person who recommended the prince to organize documents for him, Li Qing did not even see the figure of a human being. It would be better that he met a pack of wolves or horse bandits on the way.

Li Qing walked slowly all the way, and officials who walked with him, such as the new Dunhuang County Magistrate Zhang Xun, Wang Changling, Gao Shi and even his housekeeper Zhang Wang, had already arrived in Shazhou first.

A city wall in front is placed horizontally in the vast Gobi Desert like a black jade belt. There is Dunhuang County. The city wall is tall and sturdy, and has been reinforced over the years, like a copper and iron wall. The moat is drawn from the Ganquan water flowing through the east of the city. The ditches are deep and the river is wide, and it is difficult for ordinary ladders to cross.

"Governor Li, since he has arrived at his destination, my mission will be completed, and I will say goodbye."

Chu Zhilian patted Li Qing on the shoulder. After more than 20 days of getting along, they had a very harmonious relationship with each other. I really felt reluctant to say goodbye.

"Brother Chu takes care of himself all the way. Please thank Lord Huangfu on behalf of me!"

Teams of cavalry passed by Li Qing one after another, and everyone waved their hands to say goodbye one by one.

"Maybe when fighting against Tubo, we will fight side by side!" Chu Zhilian's war horse neighed and led the army to gallop away. His figure became smaller and farther, gradually disappearing on the horizon.

Li Qing withdrew his farewell gaze and waved his hand at Chang Laolao, turned to look at the fortress on the Silk Road. He couldn't help but want to shout. From now on, he will be the master of the city.

When the governor arrived in Dunhuang County, military and local officials had already left the city to welcome him. The so-called "out of the city was only fifty steps away from the city gate. If a bandit appeared, it would be too late to run back.

The welcome ceremony is also quite different from later generations. There are no children who faced the wind and rain, and their faces were so cold that they were blue and purple. Only a dozen officials were flattering themselves. They can’t say that the emperor knew people with keen eyes. Under the rule of Governor Li and Governor Li, Shazhou must be strong and the people live in peace. He also added an economic prosperity, but this subtext is rich.

As for Gongcao Zhang San and Cangcao Li Si, there is no need to introduce these, and they will be replaced slowly in the future, and there is no need to know them. Li Qing was concerned about the plans of Qianqiu's descendants and was eager to send Yan'er back to the mansion to rest. He was too lazy to talk to them, so he generously agreed to the reception banquet tonight. If anything, he would talk about it at the table. Although this place is the Western Regions, the culture of the table is in line with the Central Plains.

Li Qing's governor's residence was in the center of Dunhuang County, and was originally built by a big food merchant in the early Tang Dynasty. All granite was polished and made of raw materials were transported from other places, and the cost was not left. As a result, he was spotted by the governor of Shazhou at that time. He used a smuggling scheme to send the merchant back to his country. This house was confiscated and confiscated and distributed to his leaders for personal use. Of course, after the governor stepped down and returned to Beijing, the real estate could not be taken away, so he left it to his next office, and it has always become a traditional governor's residence.

When Li Qing arrived, he could move in with just a little arrangement. Naturally, the work of the arrangement was done by Zhang Wang, the butler who arrived in advance. The function of the butler is to make the owner live a comfortable life. The room allocation and family rules are generally done by the hostess. The villain was not in good health and needed to rest immediately. Xiaoyu took on the responsibility of the hostess. As for how she allocated the room and arranged her family, these trivial matters will not be mentioned. Li Qing's family rules were not only available today.

Let me say that Li Qing has always been puzzled by the fact that Dou Lu Army did not come forward to stop the Ma bandits from attacking Shouchang County. Later, Chu Zhilian's strange expression and desire to speak made Li Qing vaguely feel that it had something to do with Dou Lu Army.

"What's the point here?"

Li Qing could no longer help but send Yan'er and the others into the house, turned around and led his personal soldiers to the outside of the city. The army was the thing he valued most in this appointment. Only when he was in charge of the army could he straighten his waist, and only when he led the army had the opportunity to go to the battlefield, and he could gain a foothold in the Longshuo Group. His name as General Li was truly true.

There are two camps of Doulu Army. If a war occurs, the army will be stationed in the city, but the city cannot be carried out and cannot be trained. Therefore, there is also a camp three miles south of Dunhuang City, which is stationed in non-war times.

The military system of the Tang Dynasty was implemented until the eighth year of Tianbao. The military system of the government was transferred to the military system and was uniformly allocated by the Ministry of War.

With self-cultivation farmers as the target, serving in the military was the glorious obligation of the people of the Tang Dynasty. If they did not go, Yongye Field would be cancelled. Not only did they have no military pay, but all military rations, weapons, equipment, and military uniforms were paid by themselves. In other words, the country did not bear a piece of military expenditure, but had land at home as pledge, and the farmers had to go. Therefore, the early Tang Dynasty had sufficient military resources and the national strength was prosperous, which was why the equal-field system was well implemented. Under the government system, soldiers were the country's soldiers. The military governors could not control the source of troops, so there was no basis for rebellion.

In fact, since Emperor Gaozong and Emperor Zetian, the land system of the Tang Dynasty was gradually destroyed, the peasants lost their land, and the country also lost their military resources. After the 25th year of Kaiyuan, the paid recruitment system gradually began to rise, mainly for guarding the border. In the middle and late Tianbao period, the Jiedushi began to recruit soldiers privately, take other people's money, and listen to others' words. Until this time, the Jiedushi governors had their own troops. This was the root of the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion and the root of the separatist rule of the vassal states in the late Tang Dynasty. Therefore, it was not fair to completely overturn the responsibility of the Anshi Rebellion to Li Longji.

There were some other factors in the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, such as too many powerful enemies around the Tang Dynasty, and having to set up powerful military regions on the border, etc.

Of course, the Anshi Rebellion is different from the separatist vassal states. The Anshi Rebellion is a rebellion by an individual who wants to be an emperor, while the separatist vassal states is just a contest between local governments and central governments. This has existed since ancient times. Didn’t the Qing Dynasty just perish like this?

The words were a bit too far, so I came back first. Li Qing led 300 personal soldiers to speed all the way. After a moment, he arrived at the Doulu Army camp and handed over the talisman to the camp gate. The so-called talisman is the sign of the emperor's leadership for the generals of the frontier. Only with the talisman or the talisman can he lead troops to fight. Therefore, the full name of Li Qing's official position is "the military commander of the talisman of Shazhou and the governor of Shazhou". The talisman was also named after it.

Although Shazhou has only 4,000 troops, the northwest is vast and the military camp covers a very wide area. It is surrounded by thick wooden fences. Trenches are dug under the fences and buried antlers. Horses are not allowed to run in the military camp. Everyone is leading horses. The barracks are spacious, with rows of houses neatly arranged, accommodation, horse raising, military ordnance, and various functional areas are arranged in an orderly manner. In front of the house is a flat and vast training ground. But what makes Li Qing strange is that there are few people in the military camp. After walking for a long time, no one is seen. Almost all the barracks are empty. It is noon, and perhaps the soldiers are eating. The most important thing for leaders is to establish good relations with the grassroots and care about the lives of soldiers. "Hello, comrades, thank you for your hard work." It is better to squeeze together with the soldiers for a meal, but more importantly, Governor Li is also hungry.

The soldiers' canteen is at the west end of the military house, consisting of more than a dozen large houses, which can accommodate thousands of people at the same time. Li Qing heard the crowds of people in the house from afar, and then walked happily. Several soldiers were squatting at the door to eat when they suddenly saw a high-ranking official coming, and they stood up quickly.

"Continue to eat! Keep eating!"

Li Qing waved his hand with a smile, lifted the leather curtain and looked at it. The noise was rushing towards him. The house was spacious and bright, just like three classrooms in later generations. About one hundred soldiers were having dinner, laughter and cursing. Suddenly, a high-level officer came in. The noise gradually subsided. Li Qing gradually felt something was wrong in his heart. He walked away several canteens, with each canteen ranging from hundreds to seventy to eighty. In this way, isn’t there only more than one thousand people in this military camp? The documents of the Ministry of War said that there were four thousand people. What’s going on?

Li Qing was suspicious. He was about to ask the guide officer beside him, and a tall commander came out with a curtain beside him. He looked up and saw Li Qing, and was stunned. Just as he was about to speak, the guide officer next to him immediately said: "Guard Xiang, this general is our new governor of Shazhou, General Yunhui Li!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a group of people fell to their knees around him. The Tang army had strict military discipline and a high-level concept. When the commander heard that the governor had arrived, he immediately knelt down and saluted: "The last general Xiang Xuan, the scout of the Doulu army, the commander Guoyi, will meet the commander of the governor."

"Get up! Get up! Everyone gets up."

Li Qing helped the sturdy captain Guoyi up and looked him up and down. He saw that his skin was dark, dark and red and shiny. Although he looked honest and honest, his eyes seemed a little cunning. He thought to himself: "I'm afraid I can't ask him anything!"

"General Xiang, how many military camps do Doulu army have?"

Xiang Xuan immediately stood up and said, "Report to the Governor, there is only one military camp in Doulu Army."

Li Qing nodded and said, "How many soldiers are there?"

As soon as these words came out, Xiang Xuan's eyes twitched immediately, and Qiqi Aiai said, "There are only more than 1,200 people now?"

"What?"

Li Qing's pupils shrank sharply, "More than 1,200 people, what happened to the 4,000 people mentioned in the Ministry of War's settlement document?"

The Guoyi Commander Xiang Xuan seemed to know Li Qing’s thoughts and continued: “There were 4,000 people last year, but after the former Governor Ma stepped down at the beginning of the year, his brothers were transferred one after another, and his subordinates did not know the specific reason.”

"Who knows?" Li Qing tried not to show any expression.

"I have to ask Liu Cao that this is the case. After all, they are in charge of the specific military affairs."

Li Qing smiled kindly, patted his shoulder and said, "You can continue to eat! Go and tell other officers above Guoyi Commander, that I will treat you tonight, and everyone must appreciate your face." He forgot that the state officials would also treat him tonight.

The former governor of Shazhou had retired from office at the beginning of the year, and was in charge of Longyou and Hexi Jiedushi Huangfu Weiming. Huangfu Weiming did not care about specific military affairs, so the six Caos took turns to handle the regular military affairs. The six Caos were civil servants and were only responsible for military affairs. The specific military training was carried out by the generals. Today, the one on duty was the Hu Cao who participated in the military affairs. When Li Qing arrived in Dunhuang County, he did not go to greet him.

Hu Cao Shenjun is a man in his forties, with his surname Liu, who is sleepy all day long, as if he had stolen Taishang Laojun's sleepy bug. He had just had a meal and was sleeping soundly on the desk, and ordered the soldiers to wake him up.

"The new governor is here!"

The sleepy bug was frightened and flew back to the Tushita Palace. Liu Shenjun stirred up a cold war and immediately woke up. He picked up the curtain.

Li Qing was surrounded by soldiers and strode in.

Liu Ganjun hurried forward and bowed, "Liu Qilang, the subordinate of Cao Ganjun, met with Governor Li!"

Li Qing's face turned pale, and he threw Fu Jie hard onto the table with a "bang!" and stared at him coldly and said, "I'll ask you, I've seen less than a thousand soldiers since I entered the camp, but the Ministry of War's delivery document clearly stated that there should be 4,000 soldiers. Even if there are posts outside patrols, the gap should not be so big. Where have the soldiers gone?"

He had almost determined that it was these six Caos who were making trouble in the middle, otherwise the Ministry of War would not have no registration.

The sweat on Liu Shenjun's head had already come down and he was secretly complaining, "Why are you on duty today?"

"Governor, I"

"My surname is Li"

"Yes! Yes! Governor Li, the senior official has not been doing it for a long time. This was done by the former general. The senior official really doesn't know about this."

"Hmph!" Li Qing sneered, "Since you don't want to tell me, then I'll write a memorial. Go and explain to the court and the emperor!"

After saying that, Li Qing turned around and left. Liu Panjun immediately panicked and pulled Li Qing to his heart's voice: "Governor Li, please wait!"

Li Qing stopped, but glanced at the hand that was grabbing his arm.

Liu Chanjun was so scared that he stopped and bowed to apologize repeatedly: "I have no intention of offending me, please forgive me!"

"Forget it, tell me!"

Li Qing sat down on his seat with a smile on his face and said, "It's just that there's no hidden secret in the middle, otherwise we will be engaged in military law!"

"Forget it! Forget it!" Liu Shenjun sighed in his heart, "It seems that he can't escape this."

He made up his mind, turned around and closed the door, walked to Li Qing, and whispered in a low voice: "This was done by our Jiedushi, and he transferred Dou Lu Jun away privately."

"Transfer it privately?"

Li Qing's eyes gradually narrowed into a slit, "How can I explain this?"

Seeing that he asked the key points, Liu Shenjun couldn't help but sigh and continued: "It's not easy to recruit soldiers from the Western Regions, but it's even more difficult to recruit soldiers with experience and combat effectiveness, so"

“So what?”

Seeing that he was squeezing toothpaste, Li Qing didn't say anything without squeezing him, he couldn't help but slam the table and said ruthlessly: "Say it! Don't stop, tell me the truth to this governor!"

Liu Shenjun was so scared that his legs were trembling. He wiped his sweat and said tremblingly: "So Lord Huangfu released all our Doulu Army, and then turned their private placement into his own soldiers. I heard about this, and I'm not sure. Governor Li must not say that I said this!"

Li Qing let out a long sigh. No wonder Huangfu Weiming saw that he was all his own people, and he was so intimate that he even sent troops to escort him. No wonder Chu Zhilian's face looked weird, it turned out that this was the reason.

However, this matter is of great importance, so how could he not report to Li Longji? Suddenly an idea emerged from his heart, 'Maybe Li Longji had known about this for a long time.'

The more he thought about it, the more likely it was. Did he ask Yan'er to come with him just because he knew that there were no soldiers here?

"No, I think this matter is not that simple. He will definitely have a purpose when he lets himself come to Shazhou."
Chapter completed!