The wind is freezing and the snow is flying all over the sky.
In previous years, at this time of year, tribes from all over the country would huddle in their own tents filled with all kinds of strange smells, holding on to their lambs or girls and suffering in a daze day after day.
Apart from piling, there really isn't much to do.
But this year is different.
After the envoys from the Tang Army arrived, the noble heads of the tribe drove the tribesmen out of the dirty tents like crazy, and then took them out to fight in the cold weather.
The tribesmen, shivering in the cold wind, felt that the nobles had gone crazy.
If we go to fight in the mountains and forests in this kind of weather, we will all die.
The tribesmen were very angry, but there was nothing they could do. In these tribes, slavery was the standard, and the leaders and nobles were the slave owners. The inertia they had developed since childhood prevented them from resisting.
Just like that, under the supervision of many Tang troops, countless Zahu tribes began to attack frantically to wipe out Dangxiang Qiang, who was also a local snake.
The cold wind was howling, and the soldiers of the Tang Army, wearing thick cotton-padded clothes, dog-skin hats, and cowhide boots, gathered around a fire near the forest, cooking lunch in a pot.
There was naturally a Huotou Army among the Tang Army, but the Huotou Army followed the battalion and regiment levels in their actions. Once the lower teams, groups, and even left the military camp and went out to take action, they could only do it themselves.
In the past, at this time, I would just be chewing on biscuits that were harder than rocks, boil some snow water and swallow them.
But now Tang Jun is incredibly wealthy.
Each of these Tang troops carried specially made individual soldier rations.
Because there is no plastic, it is packed in wooden boxes and small cloth bags.
People from all over the Tang Dynasty would receive orders from Sihai Trading Company during their leisure time.
The men make wooden boards and wood chips, and the women sew bags and so on to earn some pocket money.
When you open the wooden box, you will first find a piece of dehydrated and sun-dried fried rice. Throw it into an iron pot and add water. Then add salt, dehydrated vegetables, spices, soy vinegar and other ingredients, and it will soon be cooked into fragrant white rice.
At the same time, the cloth bag also contains sliced dried meat, which is thrown into the pot and cooked together with the rice. After opening the pot lid, the aroma is really mouth-watering.
They took their rice bowls and filled them with white rice stuffed with vegetables and meat slices, and wolfed down the rice. The Tang Army sergeants were all satisfied.
Compared to when I was away on an expedition before, this treatment was really completely different.
After dinner, I put some clean snow into the pot and continued to boil it. Then I washed the tableware. Finally, I took out the cup, poured some tea leaves and sugar into it, made a cup of hot tea, took it out and drank it at the ceremony.
After enjoying lunch beautifully, Shi Chang carefully put away the iron pot.
An iron pot, which can be called a strategic resource, can be exchanged for several sheep or even a cow on the grassland.
The Tang Army directly distributed the items here, and they were the most precious things in each item besides weapons, armor, and horses.
You can eat hot food with an iron pot. Being able to eat hot food when you are outside is the greatest enjoyment.
After eating and drinking, the Tang troops wrapped themselves in thick cotton clothes. Except for the sentry, the rest of the Tang troops went into the forest to take care of their horses.
Different from the extreme shortage of horses in the later Song Dynasty, the supply capacity of horses in the Tang Dynasty, especially now, is extremely strong, which can not only fully meet the needs of the military, but even the civilians can buy a large number of horses.
In addition to the northern prairie now becoming Datang's wool and horse supply base, horse farms have also been built in many places in Guanzhong and Guandong.
These horse farms basically raise military horses, such as Don horses, which have super endurance and impact endurance.
At this time, the proportion of cavalry in the Tang army had exceeded that of the Han Dynasty at its peak.
Horses are not only wrapped in thick quilts, but also on their necks and legs.
These cotton quilts wrapped in cotton quilts greatly enhanced the Tang army's ability to move in cold weather.
Tang Jun took out bean cakes from the horse's saddlebags and mixed them with water to feed the horses.
The most important thing during an expedition is food and grass. The so-called food and grass refer to the food that soldiers eat and the grass that horses, cattle and other livestock eat.
In the past, when going out to fight, the main food for the army's livestock was hay.
Everyone knows that it is better for livestock to eat grain than to eat hay, but the grain is limited and people don’t have enough to eat. Where can there be excess grain for livestock to eat?
At the end of the Warring States Period, the Zhao State, in order to support Li Mu's cavalry group, cut off all the green seedlings that had not yet grown in the fields to feed the horses.
The combat effectiveness of Li Mu's cavalry was maintained, but Zhao's army starved to death.
At this time, the Tang army was able to feed their horses with grain.
The most important feeding ration is bean cake.
The residue left after soybeans are pressed is mixed with a large amount of salt, sugar, spices, etc., and then mixed with a portion of alfalfa and pressed into blocks.
Not only is it extremely nutritious, but it is also very easy to carry.
While they were busy, the sentinel in the forest blew his whistle, and the Tang Army sergeants quickly set off, took out their weapons, unbridled their horses, got on their horses, and entered into battle.
Fortunately, after a short while, the sentry ran out and gestured to everyone.
Amidst the sound of rustling on the snow, a large group of bastards escorted a group of Party Xiang Qiang out of the forest.
There are both male and female Dangxiang Qiang people, with a total of more than a hundred people. They should be a small tribe in the forest.
There were no young or old among the party members caught by the miscreants, because they could not exchange for rewards. Only strong men could exchange for rewards, and women could only exchange for half of the rewards.
Their expressions were dull, and many of them had blood stains on their bodies. Driven by the miscreants, they staggered out of the woods and onto the road.
The commander of the Tang Army who led the team took stock, nodded and led everyone towards the camp in the distance.
Before dark, they arrived at the temporary camp, and the Chinese military scribe immediately came forward to conduct an inspection. After confirming their identities, they distributed corresponding rewards to the miscreants.
You can choose multiple rewards, and the rewards chosen by the miscellaneous people are mainly salt, sugar and spiced wine.
As for why the more important food cotton cloth was not chosen, it is because these rewards will be collected by the tribal leaders.
In a slave-owning tribe, everything belongs to the slave owner, and slaves are not eligible to own private property.
"Take it, these are for you."
Before the Zahu tribe left, the clerks and horses in the Tang army would give them something extra, either a bag of tea, two pieces of cloth, or a jar of wine.
These things are all the favorites of the Zahu tribal leaders and nobles.
Sima, the secretary of the Tang Army, would also specifically tell them, 'Hide it and don't let your leaders find it. This is a reward for you.'
Needless to say, those miscellaneous tribesmen will leave with great gratitude.
As for the reason for doing this, there is naturally only one reason, and that is to provoke a conflict between the miscellaneous tribesmen and their leaders and nobles.
No matter how well the tribesmen hide, there will be a day when they are discovered and robbed.
The things you exchanged for your life were taken away, and the extra rewards you got were also taken away. It must be difficult to calm down!
Conflicts that accumulate over time will eventually break out one day.
While annihilating Party Xiang Qiang, Li Yunze is also digging holes for the miscreants.
After all, in his opinion, the miscellaneous people, like the Kunlun slaves, are existences that must be cleaned up. There is no more effective method than internal friction.
Many people in the Tang army could not understand Li Yunze's methods and felt that they could win without these supplies.
Now we are not only given but also given more. Many people are complaining about why they are not given to us.
Li Yunze couldn't bear to say that these were all tricks, in order to lose less of his own people and more of his enemies. Exchanging property and supplies for people was the most cost-effective deal in the world.
Facing Tang Jun's anger, he naturally threw the blame on Cheng Yaojin's back.
What he said to Cheng Yaojin was, "You are the commander-in-chief, so of course you have to shoulder the responsibility."
Cheng Yaojin is a standard general, unlike Li Yunze who has too many human concerns about the mood of the sergeants.
It’s just a loud rant, plus an angry shout, ‘Whoever dares to beep again will be engaged in military law~~~’
Without the slightest surprise, the sergeants quickly became quiet. At least on the surface, no one dared to make sarcastic remarks about this matter.
In winter, Dangxiang Qiang's life was already difficult. Under the desperate siege of the surrounding Zahu tribes, he was almost on the verge of collapse.
Desperate to jump over the wall, the chief tried his best to gather the last young men of each tribe, braved the cold wind and marched for more than 200 miles, trying to raid Didao, the logistics base where the Tang army had stored countless supplies.
Although Cheng Yaojin was not outstanding among the famous generals in the early Tang Dynasty, he was definitely not bad in terms of ability.
Naturally, he understands the principle of putting food supply first when the army is out.
Coupled with the reports from the Zahu tribe and the informants from the small tribes of Dangxiang Qiang who could no longer resist, when the last young men of the Dangxiang Qiang arrived near Didao, what awaited them were more than ten thousand Tang Dynasty cavalry waiting to work.
.
There were no surprises in the battle. In just one afternoon, Dang Xiang Qiang's last strength disappeared.
Using the strength of the Tang Dynasty to deal with Dang Xiang Qiang would be an absolute crushing blow.
What's left is the follow-up cleanup work. This kind of thing is naturally handled by the general manager Cheng Yaojin.
Li Yunze, on the other hand, began to arrange carriages to transport the prisoners.
There are usually only two places for Qingzhuang to go. One is to go to various mining and salt field construction sites in Datang to take charge of the most tiring and dangerous work.
Others will be sent out to sea to work in the mines of Luzon and Japan, and in the rubber and spice gardens of Southeast Asia.
These places were in urgent need of labor, and the people of the Tang Dynasty could eat and drink enough by working hard at home and still have some surplus, so no one was willing to go.
However, these Qiang people must be very popular when they arrive there.
The mines in Datang are relatively good, and the treatment is pretty good.
But those overseas mines are purely predatory and crazy mining, the kind that directly take human lives to fill the mines, and the demand for miners is extremely urgent.
As for Qiang women, they naturally have their place.
The crazy development of mining, construction, and planting industries, as well as the emergence of a large number of textile, iron-making, and manufacturing factories, caused the entire Tang Dynasty to explode with an extreme desire for labor.
Almost all industries are hungry for enough manpower.
Historically speaking, farmers were driven into factories by using sheep to eat people.
As for the Tang Dynasty, because of Li Yunze's actions, it was unable to force its own people, at least on the surface, to force its own people to work, so external input was naturally inevitable.
On this day, when Li Yunze was inspecting the freight in Didao, he received a telegram.
The content of the telegram was that a large number of Kunlun slaves appeared in the coal and iron mines near Shengzhou.
The background of these coal and iron mines is very hard and there is no way to evict them.
After putting away the telegram, Li Yunze, with a dark face, immediately boarded the train back to Chang'an City.