Li Tai did not expect that he could surpass Jiangling's navy simply by blackmailing such a fleet of ships, so he agreed to Wang Sengbian's request without much thought.
Now, although Hou Jing was defeated and fled eastward, his power has not yet collapsed. It will take a long time for the Jiangling Military Mansion to completely put down the rebellion.
In addition, although Gao Yue, the king of Qinghe in the Northern Qi Dynasty, was blocked by Li Tai when he came to the south, his Xingtai Xin Shu in the Huaidong area was still actively expanding his sphere of influence. Even if Wang Sengbian and others invaded Jiankang in the future, they would be driven away.
After Hou Jing's rebellion, he also had to face the intimidating Northern Qi Dynasty. It was difficult to immediately mobilize troops to confront the Jingzhou Governor's Office.
Li Tai's task at this point is to curb his own edge, maintain good interaction with the Jiangling Army, penetrate through non-military behaviors, and reduce the Jiangling Army's assessment of the danger to him. Of course, behind the scenes, that is
We must spare no effort to strengthen the construction of naval forces.
Now that the goal has been achieved, the next step is to release goodwill, so Li Tai smiled and said to Wang Sengbian: "Wang Zhengdong is going east to quell the chaos, and the well-being of the people in Jiangdong depends on this. Although I am not a citizen of Nanliang, but
He is also a man of morality. Hou Jing's cruelty to the common people is abhorrent to both heaven and man. Due to the limitations of his duties, although I cannot go with him to fight against thieves, I can only lose grain, rice, and thousands of stones to strengthen the general's journey!"
When Wang Sengbian heard what Li Tai said, he was also surprised and said hurriedly: "Is this what General Li really said? To be honest, since the rebel army marched westward, the two sides have fought every day. Although there was a slight weakness before Jiangling,
The reserves are gradually depleted, and the supply of food and grass will no longer be sustainable. I would be very grateful if I could supplement military supplies!"
As the capital of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, Jiangling certainly still has material reserves, but they have been consumed rapidly in recent years. After the Hou Jing Rebellion broke out, King Xiangdong was not idle. He fought successively with Xiangzhou, Yongzhou, Yingzhou, etc., and consumed a huge amount of food and grass.
.
This time the rebellious army marched westward and fought for more than half a year, so now all the troops were short of food. When he heard that Li Tai was willing to sponsor a batch of food and grass, Wang Sengbian was naturally overjoyed.
"The long and short complement each other, and the surplus and the weak complement each other. This is the original intention of the covenant. Wang Zhengdong bravely went to the national crisis and worked tirelessly. I feel this great sense of justice, and it is an honor to donate materials to help!"
Li Tai said with a smile again, but then changed the topic and sighed: "Although I have taken over the control of Jindu on the north coast, my subordinates are all from the north, and there are no wise and talented people who can assist me in running Jindu Harbor. As for Zhouji
There are even fewer people available for maintenance. Because I am envious of Jiangling's great naval force, I venture to ask if there are any low-end corporals or old scrap shipwrights who are eager to chase them away if they have talents in the army that cannot be used.
Do you want to slow me down and use speed?"
"This this……"
Wang Sengbian really didn't expect that Li Tai would have such a request. He just agreed to give Wang Lin a boat as a gift, which was already a reluctant compromise, but now Long Wangshu asked for personnel, but he said it so calmly, as if he was completely unconscious.
This is too much to ask for.
After pondering for a moment, Wang Sengbiancai said again: "Sengbian dare not boast that all the troops are brave and talented, but the country is facing a crisis, and anyone who is determined to help the country and quell the traitors cannot bear to give up. Therefore, Li Da
General, please..."
"Understand that Wang Zhengdong is now presiding over the counter-insurgency. No matter how talented he is, the more the better. The national conditions are like this. Of course, we cannot be blamed for being stingy. On the contrary, I did not judge the current situation and acted presumptuously."
After hearing this, Li Tai said with a smile, and then emphasized again: "Giving rice as a gift in the preface is irrelevant here. Even if Wang Zhengdong doesn't send anyone to use it, the rice will definitely be delivered as promised."
Hearing Li Tai's openness, Wang Sengbian became more and more embarrassed. After pondering for a while, he said: "The disciples in the army do have their own uses, and we dare not borrow them without permission. But the rebel troops captured along the river
Among the thieves, there are also many rebellious southerners, and there are many who are proficient in water affairs. If the general does not dislike the poor character of these rebellious soldiers, the monks can select a group of soldiers who are worthy of becoming the general."
"Thank you very much!"
Of course Li Tai did not mind that the moral standards of the rebels were poor. In fact, except for some extremely vicious people who took pleasure in killing and torturing, most of the rebels were either coerced into chaos or were themselves oppressed by the powerful people of Nanliang.
Can't go down anymore.
After such negotiations, the two parties finally reached a mutually satisfactory result. Li Tai personally sent Wang Sengbian out of the water camp and waved goodbye with a smile on his face.
When Wang Sengbian returned to his own ship, all the generals came up to greet him and nervously asked: "Wang Zhengdong, are the Xiqiang willing to let it go and no longer pursue the case?"
They are also worried that this matter will affect the development of the subsequent war. If the army stops here, it will be a big loss to the country and to them personally.
Faced with the concern and questioning of the generals, Wang Sengbian first let out a long sigh, then immediately pushed aside the crowd, ordered Wang Lin to be escorted forward, and pulled out his sword and put it on Wang Lin's neck. After seeing this, the generals hurriedly spoke out to persuade.
Although Wang Lin is young and frivolous and has a strong temperament, she is indeed brave and powerful, and she is also charitable and generous in her treatment of others, so her popularity in the military is not too bad.
Hearing the admonitions of the generals, Wang Sengbian dropped his sword on the ground again, pointed at Wang Lin and scolded: "It's a shame that you are a madman who has the power to cause trouble, but is unable to calm it down. If I kill one of you to resolve the previous grudges, that's all.
But the people of Jinxi ignore you, a madman, and instead want to seize your boats..."
"This must not be done! The strength of our army and the Wei army lies in the strength of the boats. Once it is obtained by them, it will be even more difficult to win!"
Wang Lin's expression suddenly changed after hearing this, Xuanjie shouted quickly, and Xuanjie said generously: "Why would you regret Lin's life? It's okay for Zhengdong to kill me, but please don't agree to this matter to the Qiang people!"
When Wang Sengbian heard this, he became even more angry: "If a dog's life can resolve the grievances, why should I give it to you! Because you are acting wildly alone, making my Jiangling uneasy and the army in trouble, of course it is not a pity for you to die, but I
But the army cannot wait for a long time! It was originally a great victory, but in the blink of an eye it was controlled by others, all because of you..."
Wang Sengbian pointed at Wang Lin and cursed loudly, and immediately dismissed her from the military, and then sent her personnel back to Jiangling for questioning. Then he discussed the funeral arrangements with the other generals, repeatedly stating that he had no choice but to agree to this condition.
After listening to Wang Sengbian's difficult negotiation process, the generals could not help but secretly complain about Wang Lin. It was the decision of the King of Eastern Hunan to transfer Xiakou and other Zhujin crossings to the Western Wei Dynasty, and their armies only needed to follow the current.
As he continued to attack the rebels, he would have great achievements to share, but Wang Lin made trouble for nothing and angered the strongman, almost ruining the good situation.
Although the generals thought this in their hearts, they were actually feeling a little resentful. It was obvious that they had fought tooth and nail to capture the city stronghold, but in the end they had to hand it over to the Western Wei Dynasty because of a bullshit agreement. This undoubtedly made them feel quite unhappy.
However, when they heard Wang Seng argue that Li Tai was still willing to provide them with 10,000 shi of rice, their moods couldn't help but improve a bit.
The war has progressed so far that even Wang Sengbian, a direct descendant of Jiangling Military Mansion, is in short supply of food and grass. Of course, the armies in other prefectures and counties are not well-off either. Although ten thousand stones and grains of rice are not enough to sustain the entire course of the next war, at least it can
A little relief from an urgent need.
And this also means that the value of their efforts has been recognized to a certain extent. The Western Wei Dynasty has also made some efforts and is not taking advantage of the situation completely for nothing, which makes people feel relieved.
In order to turn over this chapter as quickly as possible so that the generals would no longer be entangled in this, Wang Sengbian also divided the ten thousand stones of food and grass aid among the generals according to proportion on the spot, so as to encourage the generals to prepare for the next battle of Yingcheng.
And make preparations.
Li Tai was naturally a fastidious person and would not follow the example of the Southerners who went back on their word. Shortly after Wang Sengbian left the camp, he prepared ships to carry the previously promised provisions to the Jiangling naval camp.
When transporting food, Li Tai specially ordered his people to carry it in small boats, and each small boat could only carry a few stones. So from the Han River channel to the Jiangling navy camp, these small boats carrying food were connected one after another.
, never stop on the way.
At first, Wang Sengbian was just happy that Li Tai kept his promise, but he did not doubt his presence. He just said that the Mianbei Navy was indeed short of boats, and even small boats like this were used.
So after the first batch of grain and grass arrived at the camp, he reciprocated by sending Wang Lin's boat to Li Tai's water camp, and the crew selected boatmen and others among the prisoners to send them one after another.
Ten thousand shi of grain are transported by this kind of small boat, and the number of boats used must be thousands. Naturally, it cannot be completed in just two or three days. And in the constant traffic of these boats, many people
All the Jiangling soldiers also knew that General Li from Mianbei was providing material assistance to them, and all their daily food came from this.
Moreover, it is impossible for these soldiers to keep an eye on the fleet transporting grain every day. They only know that the grain aided by General Li is transported to the camp from morning to night. Just looking at the frequency of the ships, I am afraid that there must be at least
Tens of thousands of stones. Therefore, each of them was full of goodwill and gratitude towards General Li, whom he had never met but whose name he had long admired. Whenever they encountered Wei ships coming and going, they would say hello in a friendly way.
Especially when Li Tai sent the navy to formally move to Xiakou, these Jiangling soldiers not only did not resist, but also took the initiative to help, in order to thank General Li for helping them.
"Li Boshan is really clever!"
Wang Sengbian soon understood why Li Tai used a small boat to transport grain. The mere ten thousand stones of grain and grass was because he had the effect of one hundred thousand stone of grain and grass to win people's hearts. Nowadays, if anyone in the camp wants to curse Li Boshan, others will do it.
If I don't say anything, I'm afraid I will have to alienate myself from this ungrateful person.
But Li Tai's creation of such a scene was not only to win the hearts and minds of the lower-level soldiers, but also to arouse the curiosity of the upper-level governors: How much food and grass did the Wei people support them? It was the ten thousand that Wang Sengbian said
Stone or more?
In fact, the grain sent by Li Tai was 15,000 shi. Because of the small boat transportation, the amount seemed to be larger than the actual deviation. Wang Sengbian naturally smiled at the extra 5,000 shi of grain, but in the hearts of other generals
Then one could not help but murmur: Why was Li Boshan willing to help Wang Seng argue for tens of thousands of stones of food and grass? Is there some ulterior secret between them?
Under the careful investigation of interested people, and because Wang Sengbian was busy organizing an attack on Song Zixian who was stationed in Yingcheng, he had no time to carefully hide such a small matter. Soon all the generals in the army knew that Wang Sengbian was in
Exchange prisoners of war for food!
Prisoners of war? I have one too!
After learning that these prisoners could be cashed in by the Wei army, many generals who were troubled by food and grass became more active.