Chapter 2 The Warriors (Sixth Part) The rogue bandits are accustomed to eating wherever they go, so they seldom have food and grass in their army baggage. But for jewelry, jade and yellow and white things, no matter how embarrassing the defeat, the rogue bandits never
Being willing to abandon it was their capital to regroup, and it was also the purpose of Zongheng Village. Compared with gold, silver, pearls, and jade, food and grass were not important, because after eating, everyone could go to the weakly defended cities and the forts of wealthy families to rob soldiers. It was also not important.
Damn, there are disaster victims everywhere these days. As long as you have money, you don’t have to worry about no one coming to work as an errand.
Among all the bandits around Qi County, Pei Changcai had the best reputation for greed. He and Shi Zihe had just conquered Changqing County, and there was a large amount of thieves who had not had time to deal with it in the battle of Daishan. The two men were wiped out, so this sum
The windfall fell into the hands of the soldiers of Qi County without any accident. Therefore, when the ox cart transporting the seized supplies returned to Licheng, the eyes of the prefect Pei Caozhi and the county magistrate Zhang Xutuo kept narrowing their eyes in amusement.
When the civil servants saw the county soldiers and generals, they became more and more polite, as if they would have some meat on them at any time.
Li Xu was a little uncomfortable with the politeness of the civil servants at first. Later, after Qin Shubao and Luo Shixin explained it, he realized that the way the county soldiers handled the captured objects was different from that of the fu soldiers. The generals of the fu soldiers all had fixed salaries paid by the court.
Take, ordinary soldiers are also exempt from taxes. It stands to reason that their spoils of war usually have to be turned over to the treasury. Even if the court rewards them back, there will be only a few copper coins left on everyone's head. The supplies of the county soldiers are not dependent on the court.
, the general's salary and the soldiers' daily needs must be obtained from the local government. The more chaotic the world is, the more county soldiers need to be raised, and the more sophisticated weapons and armor they need to be equipped with. Over time, the material supply and salary payment of the county soldiers will become
In order to make up for the shortfall, and at the same time to take care of local dissatisfaction, starting from last year, the imperial court specially ordered that the supplies obtained from suppressing bandits should be returned to counties for their own disposal.
"Then don't the armors and weapons of the brothers already exist?" After listening to Qin and Pei's explanations, Li Xu also felt very happy that after two consecutive bloody battles, he had become one with the generals of the county soldiers, especially
Qin Shubao, Luo Shixin and Dugu Lin, because it was "difficult to distinguish between superior and inferior" in martial arts, they actually felt a sense of sympathy for each other.
"Not enough!" Qin Shubao shook his head slightly, denying Li Xu's view. "The brothers who died in the war need pensions, and the injured and disabled brothers need money to support them for the rest of their lives. Civil servants in the prefecture, and local officials all
I have helped a lot, so we can't let their efforts go in vain!" As he said that, he sighed softly, probably because he was dissatisfied with this distribution method, and at the same time he felt helpless.
The Sui Dynasty implemented a policy of dividing civil and military affairs in local areas. The prefects or county guards did not interfere in military affairs, and the county magistrates and governors did not interfere in local government affairs. However, in actual operations, civilian officials could always easily block the necks of military commanders.
Zhang Xutuo, a county magistrate like Zhang Xutuo who can not only help the civil servants to help, but also get the soldiers to sacrifice their lives to accompany them, is really a phoenix. In order to maintain this good situation of civil and military harmony, the brothers sacrificed their lives for the military exploits and achievements.
A large part of the spoils was divided, which was also a sacrifice that had to be made.
But the efforts of the generals were not unrewarded. On the second day after the loot and prisoners were delivered to Licheng, Lord Pei Caozhi wrote a letter asking for merit and sent someone to send it to Dongdu as quickly as possible. Before the messenger set out,
The old eunuch specially gave the content to Zhang Xutuo and Li Xu to read. It not only described in detail the two men's bravery and strategy to eliminate the bandits, but also described the victory of the bandit suppression as a "promotion of the prestige of the imperial court.
Make the gang of thieves shocked!" "You have done great service to the country and saved the people from distress." Ask the court to reward you in accordance with the law.
"Your Majesty, you are so polite. Zhang is a martial artist. How can he be so virtuous and capable as to dare to be praised like this by being a prefect?" Zhang Xutuo put down his request for merit and bowed his hands to Pei Caozhi to thank him.
"This young man has just arrived. His achievements were all due to people. How dare he receive such a miraculous achievement! I hope the eunuch will also write down the contributions of all his colleagues in their planning and coordination, so as not to make the general feel ashamed!" Li Xu followed Zhang Xutuo.
, also stood up from the bench and thanked Pei Caozhi.
"For their contribution, I naturally know that the contribution of civil servants is not in war. It can make the place peaceful and the people have enough food and clothing. That is our top priority. So for this credit, the two generals must not be polite." Pei Caozhi returned the courtesy with a smile.
, I am very satisfied with the performance of the two martial arts men Zhang and Li.
Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, local civil servants were mostly appointed by the prefects themselves. Although the Sui Dynasty returned the appointment power of local officials above the ninth grade to the imperial court, the imperial examination had just started and the imperial court could not recruit enough talents directly.
The actual implementation of the official appointment policy is not much different from that of the previous dynasty. In most cases, local civil servants are still recommended by the prefect, and the appointment by the court is just a formality.
Therefore, when Pei Cao spoke alone, he represented the common opinion of more than a hundred civil servants in the entire Qi County. Seeing that the old eunuch was so generous, Zhang Xutuo and Li Xu were disrespectful, so they had to thank the eunuch again for his recommendation. At the same time, in order to express the generals' respect for
The old eunuch and the civil servants gave strong support to the county soldiers, and Zhang Xutuo proposed to give another half of the post-war profits to make up for the losses caused by the "local" due to the rogue bandits crossing the border. The old eunuch declined briefly, and also represented Qi.
The county father and fellow villagers thanked each other and the two sides had a pleasant conversation. Both of them deliberately forgot about the fact that a few days ago, five generals and 20,000 people fought hard and the reinforcements were detained in the city and could not be received.
"Have you ever seen the emperor before General Li came?" After Pei Caozhi solved the problem of spoils distribution, he quickly turned the conversation to aspects related to the court's movements.
"Before the end came to Qijun, I was personally summoned by His Majesty. I can still remember the situation vividly in my mind!" Li Xu cupped his hands in the direction of Luoyang and answered that most of this sentence was false. He had been running around for days. When he was summoned by Yang Guang,
Xu Zi didn't remember clearly what he said, but he, as the client, could not tell the truth, and Pei Caozhi, the interrogator, would not be serious enough to inquire about the details of the emperor's conversations with other people.
"Your Majesty, General Li's royal family is so prosperous. It's really enviable!" Pei Caozhi also bowed his hands in the direction of Luoyang. Following the compliment, he asked with a smile, "I have a bad virtue. I haven't seen Tianyan for a long time.
I wonder if the Eucharist is in good health? Are you still working as hard as before every day?"
"Your Majesty heard that Yang Ni surrendered and was in a happy mood. He was also happy to read the memorial every day!" Li Xu pondered for a moment and then gave an ambiguous answer. Yang Guang had been in a depressed mood since the Eastern Expedition failed. Yang Xuangan was killed.
It only made him happy for two days, and then he became depressed again. He didn't even bother to read the memorial. This news was not a secret to all the entourage, but in a formal occasion, no one could tell it.
"Alas, it is a disgrace to my generation that I, as a minister, cannot share your Majesty's worries!" Pei Caozhi shook his head and lamented that being an official is about "knowing the elegant meaning after listening to the string songs." From Li Xu's answer, he had already analyzed the true meaning of the song.
After bowing his head and being silent for a while, the old eunuch asked again: "What about sending troops to quell the bandits in various places? Since Your Majesty has sent General Li Lang to the Ministry of War, will you take action in the near future?"
"When His Majesty ordered the general to come to listen to General Zhang's dispatch, he did not mention the arrangements for sending government troops to quell the chaos. Lord Pei Ju, who was in charge of the Ministry of War affairs, went on a tour of the Western Regions and did not return. Now, the general does not know whether he has returned!" Li Xu
Think for a while and answer
He knew that Pei Caozhi expected the court to send a large army to quickly exterminate the bandits in the counties of Henan, but judging from his short political experience, this wish could not be realized. During the days when Xuzi followed the court back south, he never
He heard from the imperial court how serious the bandits were in the counties of Henan. Even before crossing the Yellow River, he himself believed that the so-called bandits were just a few groups of bandits hiding in the mountains and robbing homes. Who would have expected that these bandits would be so powerful?
Strong and courageous, he was no longer content with robbing homes and homes, but took the initiative to launch attacks on county and county towns.
"Then will your Majesty continue to conquer Liao next year? General Li, please forgive me for being wordy. As you get older, you will inevitably like to inquire about irrelevant things!" The expression on Pei Caozhi's face became more and more solemn, with a hint of sigh.
Questioning in a tone of voice
"It's okay. We are just chatting in private this time, and there is no official business involved. So, if Zhong Jian knows something, just say a few words to satisfy the curiosity of our two talkative old men!" Zhang Xutuo was afraid that Li Xu would be embarrassed.
I tried to smooth things over first.
"The troubles in Liaodong have always been your Majesty's concern. If the troubles in Liaodong are not eliminated, there will never be peace on the Sui border. Therefore, the general thought that when local troubles broke out, the government troops would definitely come out of Liaodong again. It was just the court's specific arrangements. The general said nothing.
I heard too many rumors!" Li Xu thought about it and answered in a roundabout way.
Is the Battle of Liaodong necessary? He still can't figure it out. As a young general, the thought of opening up new territories for the country always makes him excited. But the desolate scenes he saw on the way to Qijun always made him excited.
I hope that the imperial court can stop side affairs for a while and give the people some time to cultivate and recuperate.
It's just that some words should not come from the mouth of a military commander like him. After experiencing so many setbacks, Xuzi has learned to protect himself and not leave any excuses to anyone, especially those who are close to him and have a higher position than him.
"Hey, Liaodong is so far away. I don't even know how barbaric it is when I think about it. When people get old, they always have no lofty ideals!" Pei Caozhi shook his head, smiled bitterly, and sighed repeatedly as if to say that he was old.
His blood has gone cold and he seems to be expressing some dissatisfaction
After sighing for a while, he asked Li Xu whether he was comfortable living in Qijun and whether he could enjoy the food. After receiving a positive answer to everything, the old prefect stood up and took out a land deed from the cabinet close to the wall.
"This is an empty house next to the Yamen. Li Lang will come all the way to help us, the elders of Qi County. The elders have nothing to give, so I will provide you with a small courtyard to rest in for the time being!"
"Sir, this will make it difficult for the general to arrive at the beginning and have not yet made any achievements. He really cannot deserve the love of the elders of Qi County!" Li Xu quickly stood up and said goodbye.
After chatting with Qin Shubao and others in the past few days, he already had some idea of the prices in Licheng. Since the surrounding counties were invaded by bandits, and Duqi County was peaceful, the wealthy people from several nearby counties had already moved here.
Considered a land of peach blossoms, the current land price in Licheng is far from affordable, but a house with three entrances and three exits cannot be bought without hundreds of dollars.
"Zhongjian first accepted the county soldiers, not as good as the government soldiers. After the battle, they were quickly disbanded. If you don't accept them, you, a loyal and brave man, will not even have a place to stay, and you will lose face in the local area. If you feel really sorry, wait until the court calls you back.
When you are here, just return this house to the prefect!" Seeing Xu Zi's embarrassed look, Zhang Xutuo ordered with a smile.
"Then it's better to obey your orders than to be respectful!" Li Xu bowed again and thanked the two elders. The moment he took over the land deed, he couldn't help but show a bit of joy in his eyes. Since leaving Su Chuobu, he has been living in
Now that I have my own home, I am really looking forward to seeing what it looks like right away.
After drinking tea for a while, Pei Caozhi got up to see off the guests. At the same time, he ordered his attendants to take Xu Zi to "identify his family." Under the guidance of Pei's family members, Xu Zi soon arrived not far from the back street of the Prefect's Mansion.
I found a new home of my own. It was a courtyard covering an area of about three acres. It was not too big, but it was very neatly tidied up. There was a main house for the master to rest, a side room for the servants to live in, a cross-yard for the guests to live, and the confines of the staff to live in.
In the side hall, there are all the facilities needed for an official's house. Behind the main house, there is also a small garden with a small river pond built with blue bricks. It is winter, and the remaining lotus in the pond has long withered, and the black stems
Alone, reflecting the water waves, showing a bit of desolation
Xu Zi only has one memory of the appearance of the courtyard of an official's family. He was in Huaiyuan County at that time. That house belonged to Duke Tang and was just a temporary residence. Xu Zi clearly remembered that when he first entered the residence of Duke Tang, he felt nothing but shock.
How envious he was. From then on, while working hard to gain fame, he always looked forward to owning such a courtyard. It didn't need to be big, it would be one-fourth the size of Tang Gong's temporary residence. The front yard would be full of flowers, and the back yard would be full of vegetables...
.
Now, his dream has finally come true, but he is not as happy as he was in his fantasy. The yard is big enough and clean enough, but it feels like it is missing some reward. The servants of the prefect's family have been sent away. Xuzi lingers over and over again.
When the smoke rose again in his yard, he finally understood what was missing most in the yard or in his heart at this time!
In previous fantasies, there was Tao Kuo, and occasionally Wan'er. But in the yard in front of him, no one in the fantasy could appear except himself.
