(Please collect it. If you give it to the person who collects it, you will have sexual happiness for a lifetime. Well, I’m not lying.)
After leaving Gyeongju Prefecture, Liu Ling rushed to Yingzhou with a thousand black unicorn troops. He walked in no hurry along the way. Although the scenery along the way was not beautiful, there was always a kind of broken and then standing scenery that was fascinating. Yingzhou
The governor of the state capital, Hutinghou Liu Mao, came out fifty miles away, but he only brought three or four followers with him. This shows that he is quite confident in the public security situation under his rule.
Liu Ling had told Emperor Xiao about Liu Mao at the beginning. Emperor Xiao's evaluation of him was that he did not have the style of a general, but he was a capable person. Liu Ling agreed very much with Emperor Xiao's evaluation. Last year, he fought against the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Liu Mao's performance can be said to be quite satisfactory. Although he is not as brilliant as Wang Banjin, Du Yi, Huasanlang, Zhao Er and others, he is the most reliable and reassuring. Therefore, Liu Ling will hand over the army's baggage and rear areas to Liu Mao.
People make the most of their talents.
In terms of fighting the enemy and charging into battle, Liu Maoyuan is not as good as Wang Banjin and Du Yi. In terms of boldness and strategy, he is not as good as Zhao Da and Hua Sanlang. Even compared to Yang Ye, who has already entered the right guard of the Zhou Dynasty and became a general of Guo Yi, he is far behind.
But if it's more cautious and steady, perhaps only Yang Ye can compare with him among the above-mentioned people.
When he was in Yuzhou, knowing that Liu Ling was about to fight Chai Rong, he still did not blindly send his troops to help. Instead, he could not restrain himself and guarded Yuzhou, taking care of the baggage, and always paying attention to the changes on the battlefield to respond.
. Such a countermeasure cannot be carried out by a brave general like Hanasaburo. If it were Hanasaburo, he would have led his troops to the back or flank of the Zhou army to launch a surprise attack.
More than prudent, not aggressive enough.
Hit the mark.
"My subordinates pay their respects to the prince."
Liu Mao stood on the roadside and bowed to the ground.
Liu Ling burst out laughing and jumped off the horse, grabbed Liu Mao's hand and said, "This place is still more than fifty miles away from Yingzhou City. Why are you so far away?"
Liu Maodao: "I can't sit still when I know that the prince is coming. Although I haven't seen him for more than a month, why do I miss him so much?"
Liu Ling smiled and said: "How come you have learned how to flatter?"
Liu Maodao: "Speaking from the bottom of my heart."
Liu Ling: "It seems that it was a mistake to put you in this position. With your potential, if you enter the palace and become a chief eunuch, Your Majesty will not be delighted by you every day? I will have to talk to Your Majesty well when I return to Taiyuan.
Tell me, if there is no shortage of manpower in the palace, there won’t be even a single eunuch in my palace.”
Liu Mao was cold and said quickly: "Thanks to the prince for your favor, I'd better keep the things to pass on the family line."
Liu Ling said: "You have five or six legitimate children, right?"
Liu Maodao: "Well... my great-great-grandfather was a single descendant of my generation, and he was carefully raised so as not to lose his popularity. When it comes to my generation, I have to work hard no matter what, right?"
Liu Ling said: "Okay, I estimate that in less than three to five years, our Han Hutinghou will "create" a huge family by himself. It will be considered a good thing if it is passed down to future generations."
While Liu Mao was talking to Liu Ling, he couldn't help but murmur in his heart: The prince has been telling random jokes since they met, why didn't he mention official matters? I have long heard that the prince is here to reduce troops this time, why is the prince now?
Didn't you reveal a word to me? Was the previous information wrong, or did the prince not trust me?
He had many things on his mind, but he still had to act relaxed and calm, but Liu Ling saw the occasional hint of absent-mindedness in his eyes. Liu Ling didn't say anything, and still only picked up some boring topics.
He said. He asked how old Liu Mao's eldest son was, and then asked how old his eldest daughter was. Then he mysteriously put it in Liu Mao's ear and asked if there was any secret recipe, and why Liu Mao's family had a single transmission for the fourth and fifth generations.
By his generation, things have started to spread out?
Liu Mao could handle it at first, but later he became more and more anxious. Several times he couldn't help but want to ask, but when he saw Liu Ling looking at the scenery on the roadside with great interest, he was embarrassed to ask. The reason why Liu Mao welcomed
The journey of more than fifty miles was actually entrusted by the generals below. They wanted to get a sneak peek before Liu Ling arrived in Yingzhou. It would be best if he could persuade the prince to not move Yingzhou's recruits for the time being. After all, Liu Mao
We had a good personal relationship with the prince when we were in Taiyuan Mansion, and Liu Mao had made great contributions in the battle of Yuzhou. It would be better for the two of them to talk in private instead of bringing it to the table.
Liu Mao thought about the wording in his mind for a long time before he came, but after meeting, Liu Ling confused his thoughts and couldn't say a word of what he had thought of. He walked forward slowly with Liu Ling, and in the end he
My face is red and my neck is thick from holding it in.
Although Liu Mao is not good at charging into battle, he is famous for being a protector of his subordinates. This man is a talented person, and it is extremely difficult to make him spit out the things in his hands. With great difficulty, he recruited more than 20,000 people.
His recruits have been trained for nearly a year now. How can he be willing to let these soldiers go back to farming according to the imperial decree? Relatively speaking, he is not very resistant to the matter of rectifying the official system. After all, he also understands that now the Han Dynasty
The official positions, especially those of military commanders, were in chaos to a certain extent.
He is Yingzhou Tongshou, and his military rank is the second-grade general of the auxiliary country. In terms of military merit, he knows that he is far from reaching this level. Moreover, among the Yingzhou military generals under his command, there are no less than a dozen generals of the third-grade Guangzheng rank.
, there are three or four generals from the second rank, which would be unimaginable in the Great Zhou Dynasty. You must know that the Youweiwei General Meng Hu in Jinzhou City of the Great Zhou Dynasty, who is sitting on the northern border of the Great Zhou Dynasty, is just a third-rank general.
Position.
Before he came to pick up Liu Ling, the generals of the Yingzhou soldiers had actually reached an agreement. The official position could be demoted, but the soldiers they got could never be returned. Now there are more than 30,000 soldiers in Yingzhou, and they have been reduced to one-third at once.
If the two soldiers have all returned to farming, how many soldiers do each of them, the generals, have left?
Therefore, Liu Mao always wanted to take advantage of the fact that Liu Ling had not conveyed the court's order to the back door to see if he could be accommodating.
"Marquis Huting has something to say?"
Seeing that Liu Maoshi's face was really ugly, Liu Ling smiled and said, "Does Marquis Huting have something to say?"
"Your Majesty... Alas! Let me tell you the truth. Did Your Majesty come to Yingzhou this time to urge the disarmament of troops?"
Liu Mao gritted his teeth and stopped holding in. He knew that the prince must have thought that he must have come so far to welcome him with a purpose. With the prince's intelligence, he was really no match. Instead of being led by the prince like this,
It's better to say it directly and happily.
Liu Ling snorted and did not answer him. Instead, he asked: "What does Marquis Huting think of the imperial court's policy?"
Liu Maoyi pinched the horse's belly cruelly and followed Liu Ling's pace: "Since the prince asked, I will tell the truth. I came to greet the prince first this time, just to reveal the meaning of the people below to the prince first.
."
Liu Ling became interested and asked with squinted eyes: "Is there a big reaction from the people below?"
Liu Maodao: "No, when I heard that the imperial court was going to lay off its troops, those guys jumped up and down as if someone had stepped on their tails. No one was willing to send back the soldiers who had been trained for nearly a year. They were not against the imperial court.
If there is any question about the policy, they are reluctant to put back the soldiers who have been trained with great difficulty and can be used quickly. No, I saw that they were making a lot of noise, and it bothered me, so I hurriedly came to tell the prince.
, so as not to catch those guys off guard when the prince arrives in Yingzhou."
Liu Ling laughed loudly, pointed at Liu Mao's nose and said, "They? Don't Hou Tinghou think so?"
Liu Mao blushed and said sarcastically: "Your Majesty also knows, who is leading the army and wants to have more troops under his command? Everyone is watching. Of the three powerful neighbors around our Han Dynasty, which one is not the master with millions of soldiers?"
?The total number of soldiers and horses we have now is less than 200,000 when we are full. If we reduce our troops further, what will we be able to do in a hurry to resist when another attack comes in the next week?"
Liu Ling asked: "Do you think the same as the people below?"
Liu Mao nodded and did not deny: "I know that the prince wanted to take the route of elite soldiers from the beginning. Judging from the national strength of the Han Dynasty, it is true that he cannot raise an army of one million. Even if all the strong men of the Han Dynasty participate, there will be no one million troops.
But 200,000 is not a lot, right? As long as we are determined to intensify training, and an army of 200,000 can be trained into elite soldiers, wouldn’t it be much stronger than having only 50,000 or 60,000 troops?"
Liu Ling smiled noncommittally, thought for a while and said, "I won't answer your question for now. I just want to ask you one question. Do you know how long our big man's current food reserves are enough to feed an army of 200,000 people?"
Liu Mao was stunned for a moment and said: "It should be enough for half a year, right?"
Liu Ling shook his head and said: "It has been less than three months. If we can't replenish the military rations, we will probably not be able to retain a single soldier in the 200,000-strong army in three months. The imperial court has implemented benevolent policies, and the people's taxes have been reduced after the drought."
Basically, it is as low as no harvest, and only one-tenth of the summer grain is taken into the warehouse. It is difficult to stabilize the people's hearts. You said that when the summer grain is put into the warehouse, Your Majesty sees that his country's 200,000 troops have no food. What will happen?
Will you not renege on the promises you made to the people?"
Liu Ling said: "If Your Majesty does not increase taxes, what will the two hundred thousand troops eat? If it increases, what will the people think?"
He pointed to the large wasteland around the official road and asked: "These lands should be cultivated by the common people. Are the common people here now? I saw it all the way south. Although the court implemented benevolent policies, the fleeing common people were also returning one after another.
Origin. But there are tens of thousands of acres of wasteland in each state? Even if the people have come back, in the past few years, there have been great wars and disasters. The people have gone from ten to four to five, and the strong men have come to join the army to make a living, and the remaining old and weak
Can women and children clear out wasteland?”
Liu Mao was speechless and just remained silent.
Liu Ling said: "Retire the troops and return to farming, and raise troops in the fields. These strong men will not fall behind in training when they go back to farm the fields. When there is a big war, they will become regular troops."
Liu Maodao: "Farming has created inertia. If a war breaks out, will they dare to pick up swords and guns?"
Liu Ling asked back: "If I were a Zhou soldier and you were a big man named Tian Ding, I would burn, kill, and loot at the door of your house, rob you of the food you had worked so hard to grow, burn the house you had just repaired, and kill your wife.
Children, how do you deal with this? Can you pick up a sword or a gun?"
"If all the recruits are retained, and the country's fields are uncultivated and desolate, and the parents, wives, and children of the soldiers have all died of poverty, and the recruits have no one to protect, can you guarantee that they will fight bravely to kill the enemy?"
Liu Ling sighed, looked at the speechless Liu Mao and asked the last question
"You only know that the general below is unwilling to reduce his troops, but have you ever asked the soldiers whether they would rather hold a sword or a sickle?" (To be continued)
