Time has entered November, and this year's noisy parade has finally come to an end. The township regiments from various states returned to their hometowns one after another, but 20,000 troops with acceptable military discipline were also selected from them to garrison the river defense.
According to the practice of previous years, Daxingtai will also go to the Yellow River to inspect and make defense adjustments, and will not return to Huazhou City until the twelfth lunar month or even around the New Year.
Li Tai did not go with him, but stayed in Baishui and took the initiative to take on a series of finishing tasks such as cleaning the venue.
The number of domestic and foreign military and rural regiments participating in the parade this year directly exceeded 100,000, which can be said to be a scale rarely seen since the founding of the Western Wei Dynasty. If the supporting military service force is added, the number of troops will double.
Now less than two years have passed since the defeat of Mangshan, and Bafu is able to carry out such a large-scale deployment of troops. Although chaos is inevitable in the process, it is enough to prove that Yuwentai Bafu's rule in Kansai is relatively stable.
After the main force left with Daxingtai, the task of relocating other township regiments fell on the logistics staff. Li Tai took the initiative to lead the members of the Dushui Administrative Office to participate, and he was naturally welcomed.
This year, the imperial court learned from the experience and lessons learned from last year's raids on villages along the way after the disbandment of the Dayue Township Regiment. Instead of directly issuing supplies for repatriation, the imperial court set up warehouses around Baishui to provide supplies within a time limit.
This forced all the township groups to set off immediately, and they did not dare to stay along the way, otherwise they would not be able to collect the food and grass for their return journey.
Many people set off on the road in a hurry, leaving behind a large number of utensils and luggage. Li Tai had already decided on the Jingzhao County and Township Regiment, and before his cousin Cui Quan led the group to leave, he went into the camp several times to inquire about the return date.
As soon as the Jingzhao County and Township Regiment set out, Li Tai ordered the watermen of the capital to rush into the camp with carriages and quickly collect the abandoned tents, injured and injured cattle and horses, various types of wood, and even human and animal waste.
The subordinates were busy picking up rags here, and the laborers arranged by the Taiwan government also came later, but after seeing the personnel of the Dushui Administration Department cleaning up here, they did not dare to come forward.
Seeing that all kinds of waste materials were loaded into more than a dozen trucks, Li Tai was about to lead the crowd to leave when he saw a group of people riding horses outside the camp. He quickly ordered his subordinates: "Transport it to Baishui Village for temporary storage. Don't answer anyone who tries to stop it!"
After explaining this, he mounted his horse and pretended to avoid it. After running a few miles, a roar came from behind: "Li Boshan, don't run!"
Accompanied by the shouts, more than a dozen Chinese soldiers surrounded and blocked the plateau. Seeing that he could not escape, Li Tai stopped a little awkwardly and looked back, otherwise Lu Tong, the Minister of Xingtai who was reviewing the final matters, had already
catch up.
"Boshan, I welcome you to ask the staff to do anything, but if you want to disrupt the arrangement of things, that's not allowed!"
Lu Tong came forward, pointed at Li Tai and said sternly: "This autumn's great parade will consume a lot of materials, and the Taifu warehouse is completely empty. All the materials left by the camps must be collected to fill the warehouses! In the north of Huazhou, the
We still need to collect materials to survive the winter. Your administration is simple and your personnel are simple, so what’s the use of collecting materials?”
"Why did Lu Shangshu say this? How could I not know that the country is in dire straits and the people are in need of help, and how could I line my own pockets!"
After hearing this, Li Tai said with a righteous face, sighing in his heart that Lu Tong was obviously not as promising as his younger brother. Without such shackles, would the Western Wei regime have collapsed?
After Lu Tong heard this, his expression calmed down, and he ordered his subordinates to lead the dozen or so large vehicles from the Dushui Administration Bureau, and then said to Li Tai: "The Taiwan government is fair in dealing with things. You and the horses will lead the troops later."
Hui. I know that your superiors are also in a difficult situation, so if you don’t have an order, you won’t make any unnecessary expeditions.”
"With Lu Shangshu's words, I feel relieved. There is indeed one more thing to report. I sincerely ask Lu Shangshu to arbitrate it fairly."
Seeing Lu Tong turning around and about to leave, Li Tai hurriedly stepped forward to stop him: "The forging workshop that was previously set up on the plateau was not an envoy of the Tai government. However, some greedy people forced it to be used.
It has not been returned yet, can Lu Shangshu return it?"
"I don't know about this matter. I will ask the person who handled it after I return and I will give you an answer."
After Lu Tong heard this, he waved his hand and said, but Li Tai held his reins and refused to let him go: "As a staff officer of the old Zengtai Mansion, I understand that matters in the mansion are decided by Cheng Xian, and such small things may not be decided according to the plot, as they are in the program.
It is inevitable that we will push it back again and again. All we need is a word from the chief minister, Shangguan, and I sincerely ask the minister to provide convenience."
Lu Tong couldn't help but feel happy when he saw his pleading look. He pointed at Li Tai and said with a smile: "When I decided to pass the exam, I didn't expect that one day I would be subject to this rule, right?"
Li Tai laughed dryly after hearing this, but still said a little more forcefully: "Jobs change with the situation, and internal and external changes are inevitable. I have to be diligent in where I am and don't have time to worry about others. If there are changes in internal and external positions in the next year, humble positions will never be included in the articles of association."
It’s hard for me to be a minister.”
"I have remembered what you said!"
Lu Tong knew that Li Tai was now Daxingtai's little treasure, so he couldn't make things difficult for him, so he nodded and said, "I'm busy with things here, so you can ask for repayment from the person in charge."
"There is no evidence for what I say. Can the minister give me a written order?"
Li Tai continued to pester him, and when Lu Tong impatiently handed him a warrant, he thanked him profusely and gave him a warm farewell.
After reuniting with his subordinates, Li Taicai waved his hand again and said: "Follow me to collect our administrative supplies!"
After leaving here, Lu Tong led his troops to patrol the plateau.
There are quite a lot of people cleaning the camp in Baishui right now. In addition to the soldiers who are directly under the Taifu government, there are also civilian men recruited by the prefectures and counties.
There are many cases like Li Tai who want to withhold materials privately. It's not that state and county officials are greedy, it's just that everyone is poor and afraid. A large-scale reading has left a lot of materials, and all related lawsuits have left the inventory empty.
, everyone is also counting on those waste materials to get a mouthful of blood, so that they will not be destitute.
It's not that Lu Tong doesn't understand the hard work of these foreign officials, but even if the Taiwan government wants to make up for it, it still has to collect all the materials and make arrangements.
After a round of inspection, Lu Tong heard a lot of complaints from people, and was made dizzy by the negative energy of those who expressed their worries.
When he returned to camp in the evening, Lu Tong began to take stock of today's material recycling situation, but found many records of the allocation of bows, swords, armor and staff in the account books submitted by his subordinates, and the recipient was the Dushui Administrative Office.
"How is this going?"
He picked up a pen and marked out the disbursement records, and then asked his subordinates.
The official in charge of the warehouse management's revenue and expenditure came forward for a brief inspection, and then replied: "It is in accordance with the order of the minister to return the people of the Qifang of the Dushui Administration Department."
After hearing this, Lu Tong became even more puzzled: "I know about this. I only returned the people and things to the weapon shop. But these bows, swords, armor and staffs were left behind by the internal and external armies. Why were they also sent to Du Shui?"
"These artifacts belong to Du Shui..."
The subordinate officer quickly explained: "Dushui Warehouse repaired the utensils for the armies, and the armies left the discarded utensils as reward. Li Jingzong came here with the minister's order and the deed with the generals to pick up the utensils. After he checked that everything was correct,
It will be returned."
After Lu Tong heard this, he immediately became angry, knowing that he had been plotted by Li Tai. He first left these account books without approval, and then left the camp and led the crowd straight to Baishui Village.
"Brother, why are you here?"
In front of the gate of Baishui Manor, Lu Yan hurriedly greeted him, looking at his brother who was coming in a menacing manner and asked.
"Competent official on the job!"
Lu Tong glared at Lu Yan angrily, then pointed at him and said angrily: "You don't know why I'm here? Where is your officer? Please come see me as soon as possible!"
Lu Yan still lacked the confidence to face his brother. When he saw this, he shrank his neck, lowered his head and whispered: "I have led my troops south to return to the office in the afternoon. Brother, it's not a good time for you to be here, Minister."
"He has defrauded the treasures of the Taiwan government, where can he escape to? Where can I keep the treasures I collected today? Just send them back, and I won't pursue him any further!"
Lu Tong became even more annoyed when he heard this. He rode his horse and rushed to the village to search, but Lu Yan opened his arms and stopped him in front of him.
"What the Minister said is wrong! Those materials originally belonged to our Dushui Administrative Office, and the armies kept them in the camp as rewards. Unfortunately, they were taken away by the Taifu officials first, and they were envoys to retrieve them. How could they be
Fraud!"
Lu Yan replied with a serious face, not giving up an inch in front of the manor.
"How many craftsmen are you working at in the Shui Xing Department Utensil Factory? In less than a month, you can receive thousands of bows, swords, armor, and staffs as rewards? Such evil talk has come out of your mouth. I really regret letting you follow Li Boshan!"
Lu Tong pointed at Lu Yan and said angrily.
"Well, those weapons and staffs are just scraps, and their value is not high. The weapons workshop has long been unreasonably confiscated by the evil officials of the Taiwan government. How much work was done is not known by the administration. Only the generals and generals of the army can make up the contract to know the approximate number.
"Whether it is excessive or not, the minister needs to ask the generals and commanders before he can make a conclusion. How can he deny it in one word?"
Seeing the furious look on his brother's face, Lu Yan, although he felt a little guilty, still bravely recounted what Li Tai had told him before leaving. He became a little more courageous when he spoke, and he raised his head and said: "Everyone should do his or her own thing.
As a minister, if he feels that the administration is acting illegally, he is humble enough to stand here and wait respectfully for his arrest. But Mr. Li will not let his subordinates be bullied by others. He will definitely argue with the Taiwan government in the future and give me justice!"
"Don't you know why Li Boshan left you here? You want to make me angry to death..."
When Lu Tong saw his brother looking at him with an incompatible look, he became furious again, got off his horse, raised his leg and kicked him.
"I know, but I feel honored! You know that I will not succumb to power because of selfish reasons, so you keep me... Hey, brother, I'm right, I didn't... You regret letting me follow you, but I
You shouldn’t have abandoned everyone and come back before regretting it! It’s not because you are greedy for merit, it’s just that you are upset that you couldn’t work together to achieve success. There is no shortage of young people in the Western Land, how many of them can be brave enough to do what they do? Even those from the military sect are far behind!”
Lu Yan was kicked so hard that he gasped for air, but he still refused to admit his defeat. He still defended himself loudly: "Military weapons and staffs should be given to brave men to use to kill the enemy. Our Administrative Office is not an idle guest, so why?
Not allowed to use it? You are right when you say it, be brave and enterprising, and do not stick to trivial matters, just to impress you who look down on young people!"