In summer and autumn, the north wind blows and the vegetation bends.
Northeast of Pingcheng, Yanmen County, Bingzhou, Han Dynasty, at the foot of Baishan Mountain, several roe deer of different coat colors were grazing with their heads down.
Suddenly, an arrow whizzed from a distance, heading straight for one of the roe deer with dull fur. However, perhaps due to the strong wind, the arrow originally aimed at the neck actually deviated quite a bit.
Shot the roe deer in the thigh.
Gongsun Xun, who was wearing a light armor with a crown, was greatly disappointed when he shot the arrow, but it didn't matter, the roe deer lost its mobility after all, and the other roe deer saw their companions being attacked, but they didn't hide or run, they just shot
The white hair on his butt exploded, as if this could scare away the dozen or so elite light armored cavalry who suddenly appeared on the hill over there.
At this time, Han Dang, Cheng Pu and other elite guards who were following Gongsun Xun no longer hesitated and drew their bows one after another, but it was these roe deer who captured them all.
"Let's roast the roe deer today." Not a single arrow was killed, and Gongsun Xun, who was stationed on horseback in the gusting autumn wind, also seemed a little unmotivated. "It's windy, so you have to find a place with leeward wind and no vegetation to light a fire, so as not to set fire to the mountain."
...Let’s go to the river valley last time!”
Naturally, everyone quickly agreed, and then they put the roe deer on their horses and went straight to the river valley.
"Young Master." When they arrived at the place, Han Dang was about to peel off the skin with a dagger, but suddenly stopped.
"What's going on?" Gongsun Xun, who had just sat down on a piece of bluestone, couldn't help but be curious.
"Why don't you come and strike?" Han Dang said, pointing to the dead roe deer that had been hit by an arrow in the knee and neck.
"Why?" Gongsun Xun became more and more confused.
"Hmm..." Han Dang replied in a rather mysterious and low voice. "Young Master, look at this roe deer. It's dull in color. Can it barely be regarded as a white roe deer? Although I don't have much education, I also know.
Isn’t this white prey considered auspicious?”
Gongsun Xun immediately laughed: "You should just peel the skin off and roast it! Is the roe deer still white? This roe deer obviously changed its winter hair in advance during the change of seasons. Compared with other roe deer, it looks a bit white... If you don't believe it, turn it over and look at it.
Butt, that’s called white hair!”
When Han Dang heard this, he turned over the roe deer and took a look at its butt. He was extremely embarrassed... Seeing this, everyone else, even a calm man like Cheng Pu, couldn't help laughing. Han Yigong was so embarrassed that he cut the roe deer first.
This roe deer has a big hole in its white butt.
Putting aside this minor commotion, everyone immediately started roasting the roe deer. There is not much to pay attention to when dining outdoors. It is nothing more than setting up a fire, cooking some hot soup in a clay pot, and then just cut the roe deer and put it on the rack.
Roast it until cooked, then smear it with dried salted fish... That's right, Amway's specialty salted fish is easy to carry. After drying, it can be crushed and sprinkled in soup or on barbecue. It's very convenient and even vaguely...
With a fresh flavor!
Since this method of use was invented by herdsmen, this thing has vaguely become a hard currency in grasslands and frontier areas.
Gongsun Xun's wife has some comments on this...Whether it's Xianbei or Dahan, the working people are the greatest inventors, and she, Gongsun Xun, can only rank second.
"Young Master!" Just when everyone had just cooked the soup, grilled the meat, and prepared to feast, a sweaty knight with a western Liaoning accent suddenly appeared at the entrance of the small valley. "But I found you.
...Lu Zuoli asked me to deliver a message to you!"
Hearing this, Gongsun Xun quickly stood up and handed the roe deer leg in his hand to the other party, and motioned the other party to drink the horse soup. Then he took another roe deer steak, sat back on the stone and turned over it.
Read the letter sent by Lu Fan.
There are many letters, not only from Lu Fan, but also some that were sent to the military camp and forwarded by Lu Fan... For example, the first letter was a home letter written by Aunt Gongsun.
When I opened it, I probably reported that it was safe and talked about the situation in western Liaoning, and then continued to hesitate whether to send Mrs. Zhao over.
After reading this, Gongsun Xun shook his head helplessly. He could only think about writing a letter to tell his wife after he went back that the life here was not stable yet. Finally, he did not want his little girl to suffer in this place.
Looking further down, there is a letter from Gongsun Zan, and Gongsun Xun knew what the content of this letter was without even reading it.
By the way, one of the two brothers is now in Shanggu and the other is in Yanmen. Although they belong to two states, they are actually only separated by Gaoliusei in Dai County. The transportation is more convenient and the correspondence is more frequent... But
, the two of them talked and talked, but they were just discussing one issue, and that was Gongsun Zan's future.
Speaking of which, Gongsun Xun, a brother of the Qiyun clan, had really bad luck. On the day of the battle in Lulongsai, he happened to be newlywed and nestled in Lingzhi, and then in the battle between Liucheng and Yangle, he was worried that Zhao Bao was a eunuch.
The son would miss his own future and follow his father-in-law to the upper valley, and get nothing!
Otherwise, with his level of daring to fight and being able to fight, he would be able to make a fortune.
And what's the situation now? The main thing now is that Gongsun Zan keeps hesitating whether to return to Liaoxi. Anyway, Gongsun Xun suggested him to go back, because after returning to Liaoxi, how could Zhao Bao arrange a marriage for him within a year or two?
Xiaolian... After all, now that Gongsun Xun has a future, the pure and innocent Gongsun Fan has gone to Luoyang again. Gongsun Yue, who has thick eyebrows and big eyes, is still young. Among the younger generation there, except for Tian Kai, there is almost no one who can do it.
Not even a fight!
But Gongsun Zan himself thought more:
The first one is Shanggu, in the direction of Daijun. The imperial court has appointed the famous general Xia Yu as the captain of Huwuhuan. He is working hard all day long. No matter what, there will be a war. He is afraid that something will happen when he returns to western Liaoning.
One missed the opportunity to make meritorious deeds; and the other, he did not want to easily leave his father-in-law, Prefect Hou, who had been supporting him, lest he be criticized, leave a stigma, and affect his future future...
In fact, considering these two points, to be on the safe side, don't think too much about it.
But Gongsun Bogui, like Gongsun Wenqi, couldn't restrain his utilitarianism, especially when he saw that the clan brother who had been hanging out with him since he was a child had been promoted to the position of Bi Qianshi, and he was in the next county.
That side is an eyesore... So, this guy still has to have the urge to go back to Liaoxi every ten days.
As a result, Gongsun Xun also received employment consultation from his clan brother almost every ten days.
After casually stuffing Gongsun Zan's letter to the end, Gongsun Xun couldn't help but his eyes lit up. It turned out that the next letter was actually sent by Gongsun Fan to his guests from Luoyang.
When I opened it, it turned out to be good news.
By the way, the barbarians over the Lujiang River rebelled again! Then the court considered that Teacher Lu Zhilu had served as the prefect of Jiujiang next door. He had suppressed the local barbarians and was familiar with the customs and customs there. It should be very useful to deal with this kind of thing. Because of his experience, he was appointed as the governor of Lujiang, hoping that he could suppress these barbarians as quickly as he did last time.
However, this appointment also caused a cascading effect. When Teacher Lu came out of Dongguan, and before setting off, he probably felt that Fengshishan University was too nominal, and he really didn’t want to mislead the students, so he gave Fengshishan University the opportunity. It's officially disbanded... All the disciples will be evaluated briefly, and those who write letters of recommendation will write letters of recommendation. Those who don't want to write will be sent home directly.
Gongsun Fan also specifically mentioned that he had secretly sent some goods to Liu Bei as payment as per his brother's request.
After reading this letter, Gongsun Xun was actually quite emotional. He thought that this was the so-called "historical plot", but it was a pity that he was not in front of it.
At the end of the page, it was finally Lu Fan’s turn to write a letter.
Although it is said to be a letter, it is actually more like an official letter. They all report some official business that Gongsun Xun did when he went out to hunt while not doing his job. The first page probably talks about how many soldiers and armors have been received, how many bows, crossbows and arrows have been received, and how many arrows and arrows have been received. So what about the construction of the camp... However, when he turned to the last page, Gongsun Xun became more and more angry!
In the end, he couldn't hold himself back any longer and smashed the ribs of the roe deer in his hand to the ground:
"Zang Manzi deceives people too much!"
"Young Master?"
"Sima, what happened?"
Han Dang, Cheng Pu, and other surrounding guards should all be regarded as Gongsun Xun's personal confidants. When they saw this scene, they naturally got up and asked.
"Zang Min is still unwilling to allocate troops to us. This time I pushed him too hard. He actually sent more than two hundred servants to fool me! There are no horses at all!" Gongsun Xun threw the letter in his hand and said, He was so angry. "Isn't it because Brother Bogui scolded his son in front of Yuan Shao's gate that day? Why is he so petty?"
When everyone heard this, their faces were filled with anger.
In fact, Gongsun Xun really unjustly accused Zang Min and Zang Bo of the Xiongnu lieutenant. He may even know this, but he was too angry and had no choice, so he poured dirty water on others.
By the way, more than three months have passed since I received the appointment and rushed to Yanmen, but Gongsun Xun's so-called other department has the air of a polished soldier, otherwise he would not be so idle as to go to Baidu. We went hiking here to hunt, and we hunted for several days.
As for the problem, it is very direct and helpless.
First of all, it was not a matter of location. The imperial court obviously gave Liu Kuan face, and with one stroke of a pen, Gongsun Xun's tribe was stationed outside Pingcheng City (near Datong in later generations), which is the northernmost end of the Datong Basin, which borders You to the east. Gaoliu is the strategic point in the western part of the state, and behind it is the core area of Bingzhou. It can be said to have convenient transportation anyway, and it is not considered a bitter cold.
Of course, it is not a question of armor. The ironware of the Han Dynasty was under unified official management. Needless to say, the scale of smelting was also very strict. The supervision and distribution of ordnance were also very strict. Therefore, Gongsun Xun very early received armor and weapons calculated according to the full number. Bows and arrows, armor pieces, spearheads, beef tendons... and other various finished and semi-finished ordnance. And to this day, there is still a steady stream of things being sent along the Datong Basin or from Gaoliu in the east.
For now, the real problem lies in the two big problems: soldiers and horses.
According to the organizational instructions in the official document, Gongsun Xun's division should have a cavalry troop, an infantry troop, and a group of military officers, which are half-bow and crossbow troops.
Logically speaking, these establishments should have enabled the Xiongnu Zhonglang to allocate Zang Min.
But when you think about it, you will know that when it comes to implementation, there are five battalions and more than a dozen troops under Zang Min's direct command. Which soldier leader is willing to separate the elites under his command? Zang Min's words are useless? Besides, what's more?
Well, the position of the Xiongnu Zhonglang General is the same as the Wuhuan Colonel at Gaoliu. It is a permanent but non-permanent position. At this point in time, it feels like it is temporarily deployed for the purpose of fighting...
...Since the war may begin one day, no one is willing to part with their elite troops.
Even to be fair, although Hu Qixiang is needed to get out of the fortress, the commander-in-chief of the Han army, whether he is General Xiongnu Zhonglang or Colonel Hu Wuhuan, can really command the Han army if he does not have enough elite Han troops to suppress the formation.
Touch these Huns and Wuhuan people?
Therefore, even if it was out of public interest, Zang Min did not want to allocate troops to Gongsun Xun... To put it bluntly, although they are all subordinates, who asked you to be in another department? The latter was really anxious, that is, he divided his troops into two groups.
Just to deal with it.
By the way, I would like to mention here that the so-called slaves refer to people who have committed crimes and are taken into the army as military slaves. They are usually used as death squads or as handymen, and their status is very low.
As for the horses, in fact, in addition to the selfish motives of Zang Min's military leader, there was also the reason that Bingzhou's local economic foundation was too weak.
By the way, the border counties of Bingzhou and Youzhou will receive money and food support from inland counties, which is the so-called central financial support. However, Youzhou guards the Liaohe Plain and the Hebei Plain, and its hematopoietic ability is not bad.
Add the two together, and life can basically go by.
But this is not possible here in Bingzhou. It is too poor and has a small population... For example, Yanmen County is already one of the three core counties in Bingzhou (the other two are Shangdang and Taiyuan), but the entire Yanmen County
There are only a dozen cities with a registered population of 120,000, which is not even as good as the poorest county in Youzhou next door!
As for Yunzhong, Dingxiang, Xihe, Shuofang and Wuyuan outside the three major counties, they were simply the poorest and most miserable places in the entire Han Dynasty! They could even only use garrison points to maintain their rule!
In this case, Bingzhou's army can basically only be supported by the central government's finances. It is no wonder that Zang Min is increasingly reluctant to part with money to buy horses for Gongsun Xun, or directly allocate him a cavalry horse.
…
In short, in the words of the official document sent by General Zang Zhonglang to Gongsun Sima, the national situation is difficult and everyone must understand each other.
However, understanding is understanding. From Gongsun Xun's perspective, no one can stop him from yelling here!
"Can the accompanying servants be used reluctantly?" Han Dang asked with a frown. "If you choose, you can always find the Caiguantun, right?"
"The accompanying servants are too much." Cheng Pu also frowned. "It's not that these people have no courage, but that they all have no fighting spirit. The imperial court will not allocate military pay, equipment to the accompanying servants...
…”
"Then what should we do?" Han Dang also became nervous. "Without horses and soldiers, wouldn't we be empty-handed? Then General Zang Zhonglang is not afraid of being blamed by the court?"
"He asked me to recruit troops on the spot in Yanmen County!" Gongsun Xun, who finally recovered his breath, sneered. "He said he would wait for me to recruit some soldiers and then the money and food for the winter would arrive, and then he would come with me from the Huns."
A few horses have arrived... Anyway, he means to take his time, and he can always get it together in two or three years!"
"Why don't you try writing a letter to Liu Gong?" Han Dang couldn't help but make a suggestion.
"You have to ask the imperial eunuch to come forward for such a trivial matter. Even if the matter is completed, people will laugh at you." Gongsun Xun shook his head repeatedly. "If you want to impeach someone for two thousand stones, it's not bad..."
"But what should we do?" Cheng Pu asked in embarrassment. "It can't really take a year or two to get the men and horses together, right? Don't talk about meritorious service by then, I'm afraid we won't even be able to go to the battlefield.
Go."
"Two to three hundred horses is not that difficult." Gongsun Xun gritted his teeth and said. "In the horse-producing area, it only costs two to three million yuan. I wrote to my mother and asked her to pay for it in Shanggu and Daijun.
I buy horses, and then we can go directly to Gaoliu nearby to receive them... The biggest problem is the soldiers! Not to mention the sparse population here in Yanmen and the difficulty of recruiting soldiers, are recruits and veterans the same thing?"
Han Dang and Cheng Pu were silent.
"Let's go!" After thinking again and again, Gongsun Xun suddenly picked up an ear-pierced clay pot next to him, took a few sips of hot soup, and then flicked his short beard around his mouth, suddenly beckoning the others to leave.
"Young Master, are you going back to Pingcheng?" Han Dang asked hurriedly while handing over the horse's reins.
"No, let's go to Yin Guan (the governor of Yanmen County)." Gongsun Xun took the reins of the horse and mounted. "Let's go find the prefect of Yanmen to catch the autumn wind!"
"At the beginning, in the 20th year of Taizu's reign, he used Sima from other tribes to level the city. He hunted white deer on the mountain and returned home after catching a white deer." - "Jiu Yan Shu". Volume 1. The Chronicles of Emperor Taizu Wu.
PS: There is also a new book group 684558115. If you are interested, you can add it.
