Chapter 576: Using barbarians for their own purposes
After one year of governance since Li Tai entered the country, Jingzhou today has changed greatly compared to last year. It may not have reached the level of prosperity and prosperity, but it can be said to be a place where people live and work in peace and contentment.
Peaceful.
But the success of Jingzhou does not mean that the whole world is the same. The flooding outside Yingchuan City in Henan Province, not far away, had just subsided due to the season, and was surrounded by the Eastern Wei army setting up a long siege.
As for Huainan, things were even more lively. Hou Jing, who had fled to Shouyang after being defeated in Guoyang, finally regained some of his strength after more than half a year of recuperation, and colluded with some unstable local forces in Huainan, and in the Eighth Route Army
In the middle of the month, the troops were officially raised.
Soon after this incident happened, Hou Zhi, who was stationed in Biyang, East Jingzhou, reported the news, and also speculated that Hou Jing might attack Yiyang on the upper reaches of the Huai River, and then build an advance base in Huainan and return to Huaibei and Henan.
Of course, such a situation did not happen. At the beginning of the year, the Eastern Wei army defeated the Southern Liang Northern Expedition Army and Hou Jing's army in two consecutive victories. It was extremely majestic. Even if Hou Jing had such an idea, the troops in Huainan would never follow Hou Jing.
Going to Henan to die was just like Hou Jing's soldiers abandoning him in Guoyang.
However, nearly two months have passed since Hou Jing raised his troops in Shouyang, and there is still no further news, although the transmission of news has lagged behind due to the distance between them.
However, Hou Jing in Huainan did not make any further moves at least more than a month after he raised his troops. It can be seen that he still did not have a complete strategic plan and goals in the early stage of raising his troops, and was relatively confused about the way forward. After all, a mere few thousand mobs attacked directly.
The capital of the country is in the capital, and there is the Yangtze River Gorge on the way. As long as the enemy has a little bit of normal thinking, this thing will never be possible.
After Li Tai learned that Hou Jing raised his troops, he also made a series of military and political arrangements. Although the initial stage of this turmoil only occurred in the Jianghuai area and did not have a strong interaction with Jianghan in Miobei, where Jingzhou is located, it was not
There is absolutely no chance of taking advantage of the situation.
Biyang, guarded by Hou Zhi in Dongjing Prefecture, is not far to the east. When you leave the northern pass of Tongbai Mountain, you can reach the north bank of the upper reaches of the Huai River. Then turning south, not far away, is Yiyang, a large town to the west of Shouyang.
Nanliang Yangyaren, who had retreated from Xuanhu, was stationed in Yiyang. As Hou Jing raised his troops, Yangyaren would inevitably send troops to suppress the rebellion. The strength left behind in Yiyang might not be as sufficient as before.
However, Li Tai was not blindly optimistic and sent troops eastward to make progress. After all, the last one who did this was surrounded by the Eastern Wei army in Henan.
He knew very well that the strategic opportunities brought about by Hou Jing's rebellion were mainly in the Jianghan area. As for the Huaihe River Basin, it was beyond his reach.
catch.
Therefore, Li Tai sent an additional 600 elite cavalry to Hou Zhi, allowing him to flexibly detect changes in the situation near Biyang. If there were any traveling teams that moved here due to the war, they would also be admitted in time, but this is probably not the case.
too much.
At the same time, Zhao Gang, who was pacifying the barbarians in Jingzhou, was recalled by Li Tai, and arranged for him to communicate with the Yuzhou barbarians mainly in the Tongbai Mountain area in the southeast, in an effort to win over a group of Yuzhou barbarian tribes who were not weak in power.
come over.
Nowadays, the various barbarians have been divided into raw and cooked people. The raw barbarians are completely unchanging and have been living in seclusion in the mountains and have very little communication with the outside world. As for the cooked barbarians, they mainly live in plains and hilly areas, although there are still obvious
The barbaric style has not faded away, but it has also been consciously moving closer to the customs of the Han people.
People like Zhao Gang, who know the customs of the barbarians very well, respect them without losing respect, and are willing to guide them to transition closer to Han residential areas, can easily gain the favor of these familiar barbarians and are happy to communicate and interact with them.
On this day, Zhao Gang, who had been ordered to go east, returned to Jingzhou City and brought back several Yuzhou barbarian chiefs and his followers. Nearly a thousand people arrived outside Rangcheng in a mighty manner.
Li Tai was overjoyed after hearing the news, and quickly sent people to welcome Zhao Gang and the barbarian chiefs who were accompanying him into the state capital. They did not meet him in the main hall where official business was conducted, but held a banquet in the middle hall of the state capital where guests were entertained.
"Fortunately, the general has lived up to his mission. He is here to help the governor bring back a few people who are loyal to the king and want to be loyal to him!"
After Zhao Gang entered the hall with all the barbarian chiefs, he first bowed to Li Tai and then introduced the barbarian chiefs one by one. These barbarian chiefs were all leaders of the barbarian tribe active in the upper reaches of the Huai River and in the Tongbai Mountain area, and there were many of them.
He has accepted the appointment of Zuo Guan from various parties.
Although Li Tai is not proficient in dealing with these barbarian chiefs, he also understands that in order to win their respect and admiration, he must first have a strong enough fist, and secondly, he must have enough benefits.
Therefore, at the banquet to entertain these barbarian chiefs, Li Tai ordered his soldiers to fight and compete with these barbarian chiefs. At the same time, various treasures were displayed in the hall and they were given as random rewards, which was similar to the method used to subdue the Jingzhou barbarian chiefs before.
The barbarian chieftains naturally liked this kind of activity very much. They were elated when they won. After receiving the reward, they kowtowed and thanked Li Tai repeatedly. Those who lost were not discouraged and continued to invite battle after a short rest.
The banquet was halfway through in such a lively atmosphere, but when Li Tai took the opportunity to talk about some ideas, the performance of these barbarian chiefs was always a little bit off, and their reactions were not as positive as the martial arts rewards.
"Don't these barbarians want to go further to Huainan? I will supply the armored staff ordnance. As long as they take advantage of the empty defense of the Liang people to approach Yiyang and infiltrate, they don't seem to be happy?"
While the barbarian chiefs were drinking and enjoying themselves, Li Tai motioned Zhao Gang to come forward and asked with a frown.
After Zhao Gang heard this, he whispered: "When I went to make contact, I also felt that the barbarians in this area seemed to be different compared to other areas. They were not keen on looting and looting, but were happy to buy and sell goods. Let's ask deeply.
, it turns out that Hou Jing was exempted from the market assessment in Shouyang before..."
Li Tai couldn't help but feel happy when he heard this. No wonder these barbarians don't like robbery but trade. Their feelings are encouraged by policies. But soon he asked again: "Hou Jingjin has raised his troops to rebel against Liang. Shouyang is the center of the war.
Even if the previous order is still maintained, are they not afraid that this is a trap set up?"
After Zhao Gang heard this, he added: "Huainan has been divided between the north and the south for a long time, and the folk customs are also quite fierce. The powerful people sealed the mountains and protected them, how many goods did the common people have? Even if they are as evil as Hou Jing, if they dare to send troops to rob the wealthy households
, then who dares to get close to them? Especially now that the Liang army is besieging his division, it is not appropriate to make enemies all over the country just for the convenience of the moment. Therefore, the needs of the division and brigade still need to visit the city to buy. Only the people of Dayi City carry their assets with them.
, there is no other power, there is no harm in plundering it..."
Li Tai was a little stunned when he heard this. He dared to directly rebel, but he had to be fair and trustworthy when doing business. This was really incredible.
But it’s normal if you think about it carefully. The most powerful forces in border areas like Huainan are never two countries, but the powerful powers from all over the country who control the land and population. At least for now, Hou Jing needs to unite these forces. Of course, he cannot have a bottom line.
.
But the problem is that he hopes to win over and encourage these Yuzhou barbarian tribes to go eastward along the Huaihe River and become the vanguard of his army. However, these barbarians are not willing to make progress, which is really a headache.
After thinking for a while, he then said: "Since these barbarian chiefs intend to go to Shouyang to sell goods for profit, but they also defect to the west, they must have a lot of desires for me, right?"
"Yes, the general used official trade to persuade these barbarian chiefs to come here and wait and see."
After hearing this, Zhao Gang replied that although he was good at dealing with barbarians, he at least had to come up with something attractive to convince them. After all, barbarians were not fools and would not do anything with a slap on the forehead. He now
They have lured people here, but how to drive and use them still depends on Li Tai, the state leader.
It is not unacceptable for Li Tai to penetrate and find out the situation in Huainan through business, but what can these barbarians use to trade with him?
After thinking about it, Li Tai said: "I can provide these barbarian chiefs with a batch of supplies, but they need to use their tribesmen as hostages within the territory. There is Liyang City in the east of Jingzhou, and the ancient city of Bennan Qi'an Manfu
We are here to activate the garrison again. Please ask Zhao Cheqi to take charge of the garrison. I will send another general and a thousand steps to garrison so that Zhao Cheqi can control the barbarians."
After Zhao Gang heard this, he nodded and accepted the order. Soon after, he informed the barbarian chiefs present about Li Tai's decision. After hearing this, all the barbarian chiefs kowtowed to Li Tai and thanked him. It was obvious that they had the right intentions.
So the next day Li Tai sent Dou Chi's nephew Dou Yi to lead a thousand troops, plus Zhao Gang's own soldiers, to escort a batch of supplies and goods to Liyang City in the east.
As soon as he had arranged this matter, new news came from the southern border. Hou Jing's rebellious army had successfully crossed the river. In addition, Xiao Qing, the king of Yueyang, also invited him to meet Li. He also had important matters to discuss with Li.