As usual, Ji Wu led the officials to inspect the market of Juyang City.
Along the way, countless common people, scholars, and merchants stood on both sides of the road and nodded in greeting.
But Jiwu was very unhappy.
Did he even come to the wrong place?
Jiwu's grandfather, Jinghou Jichi, was Emperor Gao's successor!
From the beginning of Emperor Gao's Zhan White Snake uprising, he had been serving Emperor Gao. After that, he never left his side, following Emperor Gao, conquering the world, and fighting in all directions.
I have experienced success and tasted failure.
But maybe it's because my combat skills are really not that good, so I haven't been able to get promoted to this position.
When Han Xin came to vote for Emperor Gao, his grandfather was already Lian Ao (Note 1).
The two even drank together.
Can……
When Han Xin climbed to the position of King Qi, he was still Lian Ao...
This is so embarrassing!
Fortunately, Emperor Gao was kind and righteous. He saw that his old brother had been living in poverty for more than ten years and could not get along. Now the Han Empire has been established.
Therefore, he supported his grandfather and promoted him to captain.
Then, Zhou Bo also felt that the old brother needed a helping hand.
Therefore, when Lu Wan rebelled and Zhou Bo went on an expedition as Taiwei, he took his grandfather with him.
Then, Ji Wu's grandfather followed Zhou Bo, defeated Lu Wan's last army not far outside Juyang City, and drove them out of the Great Wall.
Because of this incident, Jiwu's grandfather was granted the title of Zhuzao Hou. Although the settlement was only 900 households, he was still a noble prince!
but……
Nowadays, Ji Wu is troubled by this.
The reason is very simple, the princes always use his title to laugh at him.
"When can I lead my troops to fight against the Huns?" Ji Wu thought in his heart. But then he laughed at himself again: "I guess there is nothing I can do..."
Originally, when he was appointed as the governor of Shanggu County, he was very ambitious and wanted to make great achievements.
but……
It was only after he took office that he discovered that, in fact, he had nothing to do with the military affairs of Shanggu County.
General Guan He of the Loufan Army is the highest-ranking officer in Shanggu County.
Moreover, the Huns behind the border wall of Shanggu County are either cowards or paupers.
Not to mention having the guts to attack Shanggu.
There are not many people who dare to provoke!
On the contrary, every autumn and winter, a large number of Xiongnu fugitives would flee into the Great Wall and become slaves to the Han people, just asking for a bite to eat.
In fact, many Xiongnu tribes were engaged in population trade with the landlords and gentry in Shanggu County. The Battle of Mayi and the Battle of Gaoque caused heavy damage to the Huns' livestock industry in Munan!
Especially in the Battle of Mayi, the Han army raided Nanchi and captured millions of livestock.
This is equivalent to the Han army taking away all the Xiongnu's Sanhe area at once.
Those big tribes might be better off.
However, almost all small and medium-sized tribes, especially those in the east and northeast, lack food.
Therefore, the Huns had no choice but to sell their herdsmen to the Han landlords and gentry in exchange for grain, livestock, and cheese.
Even from time to time, some small tribes who were oppressed by the Huns and could no longer survive would come to surrender as a whole, dragging their families with them.
Lou Fanren has made a lot of money from this business, and his life has been extremely comfortable!
Even the Wusun people are gradually becoming content with the status quo.
The animal husbandry conducted by these Hu people in Zaoyang County and Shipi County greatly enriched the economy of Shanggu County.
Nowadays, in the market of Juyang City, you can often see Loufan Huqi and Wusun Huqi who are dressed in Han Dynasty clothes, but at a glance they can be identified as Hu people, leading their livestock or calves and horses in the market.
Selling.
The price is quite cheap!
The price of a calf and foal is at least half cheaper than in Chang'an, and at least one-third cheaper than in Taiyuan.
Moreover, Wusun Ren and Lou Fanchen had good herding and care skills, so the calves and foals they brought out were very good.
If you buy it back and take a little care and training, it will become a good cattle or draft horse. You may even win a big prize and can be used as a war horse. Then you will be prosperous!
Therefore, merchants from all over came in droves.
Since King Yan Zhao established Shanggu County, this frontier fortress has never been as prosperous as it is today.
Merchants from distant places brought exquisite silks, porcelain, books and other daily necessities, and exchanged them for livestock, cheese, furs, which were specialties of Shanggu County, and some even became human traffickers for resale.
Those Xiongnu maidservants were taken by them and resold to all parts of the world.
Who said that today's landlords and gentry don't like and can't afford to use them, let alone Han slaves!
If you use a Han as a slave, you will not only be criticized by the scholarly public opinion, saying that he "does not love his brothers and sisters" and "is not the behavior of a gentleman," but he will also have to pay a high import tax!
Therefore, many people have to change their behavior.
For example, free the Han slaves in your name and then sign a fifty-year bonded labor contract with them...
In this way, risks can be avoided.
However, the best way is to use Yi and Di as slaves as much as possible.
Not only was it cheap, but it was also safe, and the most important thing was that it was easy to bear the burden of being a Yi Di slave, which was only one-fifth of that of a Han slave.
Therefore, the market in Shanggu County has become more and more prosperous due to the increasing frequency of these commercial activities.
But the more this happened, the unhappy Jiwu became.
He comes here to fight!
We are not here to serve as arbitrators for merchants, common people, and mud-legged people!
If you don’t fight, you won’t have military merit. Without military merit, you can’t take off your title of Zhuzaohou...
"Why don't the Huns come to my valley?" As usual, after touring the entire city of Juyang, Ji Wu returned to the county guard's Yamen and looked at the Yamen hall, shaking his head and sighing.
In order to win the position of Shanggu County Sheriff, he risked everything!
Not only did he beg Prime Minister Zhou Yafu for three days and three nights, he also used many favors from his grandfather and father to lobby and persuade possible potential competitors.
For this reason, he even married his precious daughter to the son of Chen Jia, the Marquis of Fuyang, and only then did he get this position.
But in the past two years, he has been here in Shanggu County, let alone the Hun cavalry who invaded.
I haven't even seen anyone who dares to provoke.
When Ji Wu was shaking his head and sighing, his trusted retainer came over and said: "My lord, General Guan is here and is waiting in the side hall. It is said that there is something urgent..."
"What's the emergency?" Ji Wu asked feebly. He felt that if he didn't fight, he would die!
"It is said that there is an urgent military intelligence report!"
"What?" Ji Wu suddenly became energetic.
When there is a war, for the princes and county guards of the Han family, it is simply the sound of nature!
No matter where the war takes place or how many enemies there are.
As long as there is a fight to be fought!
…………………………………………
Half an hour later, Ji Wu personally opened the gate of the county guard's office and said goodbye to Guan He.
Then, he led the government officials and personally beat the big drum set up in front of the county governor's office.
"Dong dong dong!" The sound of drums spread throughout the county.
Almost everyone can hear it.
Then, the whole Juyang City was boiling!
Because everyone knows what it means when the big drum in front of the county magistrate's office is beaten?
It means that the county guard orders troops and mobilizes the whole county!
All men over the age of twenty-three and under the age of forty should immediately prepare their own bows, arrows, weapons, and dry food, and under the organization of the local pavilion chief, report to the nearest military camp!
And such mobilization is always a signal for war!
And it’s a signal for war!
After just a moment of astonishment, the parts of the entire city's war machine began to operate.
First of all, start from the front of the house.
In the center of every street in Juyang City, there is a warehouse set up on a tripod.
After hearing the sound of the drum, the local people rushed over from home immediately. Then, they opened the warehouse one after another, revealing a mountain of various weapons inside.
There are all kinds of bronze swords, spears, halberds, bows, crossbows and arrows that were eliminated by the Han army.
These were weapons that had been eliminated from the hands of the Shanggu County soldiers since the fourth year of Yuande and were then placed in these villages.
Many weapons are even very well maintained and are still brand new and as sharp as ever!
Then, these equipments were distributed by the villagers to qualified men in the village.
The so-called qualified men refer to young men who have enlisted in the army and are strong.
Then, officials were formed one by one in each village.
These Juyang soldiers and civilians then lined up under the leadership of Li Zhengmen and walked towards the city's arsenal and martial arts arena.
At the same time, at the gate of Juyang City, a group of messengers carrying order arrows on their backs rushed away, rushing towards the three captain's offices in Shanggu County.
In the afternoon of that day, all three command posts received orders, and then each village and each village pavilion was mobilized.
In less than two days, the entire Shang Valley was fully mobilized.
The number of troops increased from only 4,000 before mobilization to 23,000!
Among them, at least 10,000 people have military experience!
But this is not the point. The point is that those places are powerful!
Shanggu County has sixteen counties with a population of about 400,000.
On average, there are at least three big landowners in each county, which is what the world calls powerful.
These powerful people cover vast areas.
Basically there are hundreds of tenants!
Even in the past, these powerful men were an important fighting force on the frontier fortress of the Han Dynasty!
As for now...
Benefit from the Fake Horse Order and the Northland Knights Policy.
Groups of cavalry began to arm themselves in these powerful houses.
Then, led by the powerful sons, they gathered towards Juyang.
In just three days, more than 80% of the powerful men in Shanggu County rushed to Juyang with their soldiers.
And the cavalry they brought totaled up to thousands of cavalry!
Enough to form a standard Han cavalry captain's unit!
What’s even more frightening is that these cavalrymen are all full of fighting spirit, their morale is boiling, and their saddles and horses are all ready!
Don't underestimate these cavalry, thinking that they have not been tempered and are nothing more than a mob.
In past history, the Huns often suffered at their hands!
In history, these powerful people eventually evolved into the military aristocratic group in the north, which was active and influential for a thousand years!
At their peak, they could even decide the replacement, rise and fall of dynasties!
Nowadays, although they are not that awesome.
However, it has already begun to show its prowess.
Jiwu stood at the top of the city and looked at the militiamen coming from all directions. He proudly held his beard and praised: "With this military spirit and public opinion, the Huns will not come. If they come, they will make the same mistake as Mayi!"
…………………………………………
But until now, most militiamen still don't know what happened.
So all kinds of sounds were circulated in the military camp.
Many people said with certainty: "His Majesty must have foreseen that the Huns will invade my Shanggu Valley again!"
Then, everyone around nodded in agreement.
Today, this is not the first time that the Huns invasion has been accurately predicted.
The Battle of Mayi was just the beginning.
Last year's Battle of Anton, where King Youxian of the Xiongnu was forced to land, was a high point.
Countless people believed and acquiesced that the emperor must know something, so he gave the order to Shanggu.
Otherwise, how could the county guard dare to mobilize the entire county?
As long as the militiamen think that the emperor has foreseen the Huns' invasion, then I am afraid that the Juzhu Army, the Feihu Army, the Xiliu Camp, and even the emperor's personal guards, the Tiger Guards and the Yulin Guards, might already be on their way to help.
, so everyone feels much more relaxed.
With these trump cards coming to their aid, the Huns will definitely be like the Battle of Mayi, dying without knowing how!
And the big guys can take the opportunity to get a lot of military glory!
Especially the powerful ones, everyone’s hearts are surging and it’s hard to control themselves!
Because, today's emperor is no longer just an emperor who controls the power of life and wealth, and controls wealth and poverty.
He has now extended his hands to the underworld and to the nine heavens, and can become a god on behalf of heaven!
He lives as a great man and dies as a ghost.
This is the highest pursuit of the Han Dynasty scholar-bureaucrats and nobles!
Therefore, everyone encouraged his disciples and said: "You can kill the thieves with all your strength, and you will have no worries at home!"
The young people worshiped one after another: "Sir, please teach me, and the boys know that this trip must not disgrace the family tradition!"
…………………………
But in a merchant's shop in Juyang City, several Huns disguised as fugitive slaves looked at each other in shock and even trembled.
"Why did the people of the Han Dynasty react so quickly?" the leader of the Xiongnu said almost in tears: "What should we do..."
Everyone else had a look of despair on their faces.
No matter how much they thought about it, they couldn't figure out how the Han Dynasty people knew about their secret actions?
It should be noted that in order to ensure that the Han Dynasty would not detect this southern invasion, the main force of the Huns deliberately assembled in the hinterland of the grassland, and then sent out countless scouts and spies to intercept all people and things that might reveal their whereabouts.
But even if they didn't expect it, they were still noticed by the Han Dynasty, and they mobilized before the Huns launched their attack.
This is not the scariest thing!
The scariest thing is...
I'm afraid Lou Fanren's place will be a huge trap!
Just thinking about this makes these Huns almost want to die!
Because they knew that if Lou Fanren did not suddenly rebel, then the invading Huns cavalry might be in big trouble!
…………
That’s it for today. I’ll think about it, take a break, and continue playing tomorrow~ (To be continued.)
