Chapter 20: Sending troops to the Hetao [two in one]
In May of the 25th year of Hongde, under the will of Zhao Run, the prince of the country, Wei State entered the final stage of active and intense pre-war preparations.
This so-called "final stage", to put it bluntly, means that the generals of the Wei army will check the rations again, and the soldiers will sharpen their combat weapons and polish their armor, waiting for the war horn that will sound at any time.
.
In the wilderness of Hedong County, the "Fenyin-Daliang" track carriage built the year before last by the Chengling King Zhao Shen, Anping Marquis Zhao Tan and the Anling Zhao family raised money, but it has been requisitioned by the court under "special regulations".
Day after day, horse-drawn carriages loaded with grain and grass rushed along this two-way track, transporting countless supplies to the front line.
As of early May, Fenyin County had built a military camp specifically for this purpose, covering an area no less than the county seat, and had just piled up these supplies.
Some people may ask, if the Wei State transports a large amount of grain and grass from all over the country to Fenyin in the east of Hedong, isn't it afraid of being robbed?
In fact, the Wei State is really not afraid, because one after another, more and more armies have gathered in Hexi and Hedong areas, such as the Shangshui Army, the Yanling Army, the Wei Wu Army, the Anti-Rebel Army, etc., even if it ends
At present, at least 200,000 Wei troops have gathered in Hexi and Hedong.
Therefore, the Wei State did not need to worry about the mountains of grain and grass being plundered. Instead, they needed to worry about whether the Lin Hu in the Hetao area would move their tribes north because they sensed something was wrong.
As the war was coming, Prince Zhao Run finally had a few comfortable days, because the stubborn inner court ministers headed by Du You, the Minister of Rites, had been fighting with him for the past two months and wanted to use ropes to tie him down.
The ministers of the inner court who were tied to the Chui Gong Hall to work as clay sculptures finally couldn't care about him now.
Because Du You, the minister of the Ministry of Rites, has recently been busy carrying out popular science education for the Wei people in the country in the name of the Ministry of Rites, issuing one statement after another, gradually making the Wei people in the country understand what "Lin Hu in the Hetao" is.
Such nomadic peoples were created in order to get the citizens to support this foreign war.
But having said that, the Linhu are indeed not a friendly nomadic people, and there is no need for the Ministry of Rites to deliberately add fuel to the fire. According to the records of the Wei State over the years, the Qianghu in Hexi, the Linhu in Hetao, and the Jie tribe who once dominated Sanchuan have all
In the autumn harvests of previous years, when Wei and Han were harvesting grain, crowds gathered to invade the two countries, robbed Wei and Han of their grain and women, and massacred the people of Wei and Han.
Objectively speaking, this is a stage that nomads must go through during their development. Because nomads use tribes as their units and hardly know how to farm, whenever they encounter any unexpected situation, such as the sudden onset of winter,
If the temperature drops and freezes the livestock in the tribe, it is very likely that a powerful tribe will be destroyed.
If it were in the Central Plains, such as the State of Wei, if a county suffered a natural disaster, the Wei court would immediately mobilize food from other counties and transport it to the disaster area; but among the nomadic peoples who prey on the weak, this does not exist.
When a tribe is on the verge of destruction due to natural disasters, other tribes, instead of offering help, will take advantage of the situation and annex it.
The larger the tribe, the greater the threat from this aspect.
In order to survive, those nomadic peoples who were once forced to have no choice but to seek help from Wei, Han and other Central Plains countries.
Of course, this was at the beginning. Later, going for "autumn hunting" in the Central Plains gradually became a routine custom of the nomadic people. Regardless of whether the rations for the winter were sufficient that year, these warriors on the grasslands would ride on horseback.
Riding their war horses and waving their swords, they would run towards Wei and Han and plunder fiercely.
Because there are many grasslands in the Central Plains, important materials that are lacking on the plateau, such as salt, spices (mainly pepper), tea, silk, etc.
Needless to say about salt, even in the Central Plains countries, "salt and rice" are indispensable necessities of life for the people, let alone among the nomadic peoples.
The second important material, many people think of it as spices, is actually tea.
Because nomads eat beef, mutton, cheese and other greasy foods all year round, and these foods often cause constipation and irritation (no kidding), therefore, nomads are in great need of tea, a drink that can clear the stomach.
As for spices, including silk, only those with status are eligible to enjoy it - especially silk, which is used by nomads to make close-fitting underwear. The silky feeling is much more comfortable than underwear made of sheepskin.
.
In addition to the above, the nomads will also plunder a kind of material from the Central Plains countries, and that is the women of the Central Plains.
I remember that there was a time when thousands of women along the border between Wei and South Korea were robbed by nomads. And among these poor women, few had a good ending. Most of them died in shame, anger and despair, and even more
What's more, they were forced to give birth to the children of those alien men - by the way, most of these children born of mixed race became slaves, so many of these people grew up to join civilized countries and devote themselves to conquest.
of nomadic people.
For example, Jiang Bi, the Shangdang Shou of the Wei State, had a mother who was a Wei girl from Longxi who was robbed by the Qiang people.
Because the Linhu, Qianghu and other nomadic peoples themselves were not clean, Du You, the Minister of Rites, did not need to add any extravagant words. Even if he truthfully wrote the facts in the memorandum, it would be enough to arouse the anger of the Wei people.
This is mainly due to the superiority of the people of the Central Plains countries. After all, the Central Plains people have always looked down on the nomads who do not understand the rules, especially some customs among the nomads, which are simply unacceptable to the Central Plains people - for example, among the nomads, there is a saying "after the death of the father"
The custom of "a son marrying his father's woman as his wife" is absolutely unacceptable in the Central Plains, because it goes against human relations and is indiscriminate (this word can never be typed).
Because of this, nomads have always been regarded as beasts that eat their hair and drink blood in the hearts of the Central Plains people. In their view, only wild beasts can ignore the principles of human ethics and do things that are shameful to humans.
This sense of superiority as citizens of the Central Plains Kingdom made the Wei people very cooperative with the instigation of the Ministry of Rites - to be precise, in fact, before the Ministry of Rites started agitating, the Wei people in the country were bubbling like boiling water, and they were full of hearts.
I hope the court will expel those 'beasts'.
Perhaps in the eyes of most Wei people, hunting wolves is just like the Wei State's hunting of wolves over the years - to put it bluntly, the nomads may have regarded the Central Plains people as "two-legged sheep", but the Central Plains people
These alien races have never been classified as human beings. The two have always had a relationship where the one with the bigger fist has the final say.
More than ten years ago, the Wei State had not yet become powerful, so it was inevitable to be afraid when dealing with foreigners. But now, the Wei State is already the overlord of the Central Plains. How can it be willing to sit back and watch Lin Hu continue to occupy the fertile land of Hetao?
Land? You must know, how can you allow others to sleep soundly next to your bed?!
In fact, as early as March, Prince Zhao Run had personally written an "order to punish Hu", which was polished by Jie Ziu, Wen Qi and others before it was promulgated.
But after learning about this, Du You, the Minister of Rites, dissuaded him for a simple reason - the imperial court needed a righteous name to send troops.
Therefore, the Ministry of Rites issued a proclamation in the country to incite the emotions of the Wei people in the country.
In late May, the imperial court saw that the mood for war in the country was almost brewing, so in the early morning session, Tao Ji, the Minister of War, took the lead in speaking up, mentioning that over the years, the borders of Wei State had been repeatedly invaded and harassed by Lin Hu.
I have to say that Zhao Hongrun was really speechless at that time, because in his opinion, all the officials in the Manchu Dynasty supported the use of troops against Lin Hu, and domestic nobles such as Zhao Shen, the King of Chengling, Zhao Tan, the Marquis of Anping, were even more impatient.
The private troops were transferred from Song County to Hedong early, and they were waiting for the imperial court to issue an order to attack Lin Hu. However, during the court meeting, these ministers were still pretending. One said, "We must fight back", and the other said, "Lin Hu should be denounced first. If so,
If Lin Hu Ming is stubborn, we will go to war again."
Watching the group of people pretending to argue, Zhao Hongrun simply sat down on the steps in front of the throne, holding his chin with his right hand and resting it on his knees, watching the group of people pretending to argue.
Perhaps they sensed that the Crown Prince was a little impatient, so after a while, the courtiers finally reached an uneasy agreement: send troops!
Afterwards, Du You, the Minister of Rites, grabbed Zhao Hongrun and explained to the latter in private.
In fact, even if Du You didn't explain, Zhao Hongrun understood that after all, the culture in the Central Plains pays attention to "implicitness".
The simple explanation is that although I think you are unhappy or want to beat you for some reason, I will not say it explicitly. I will find a legitimate and reasonable reason and then beat you up - maybe this reason is because you are
The glares at me from the street made me brood, depressed, and not thinking about food and drink. I also had conflicts with my family, which seriously jeopardized my life and family harmony.
This is called justice!
To be honest, Zhao Hongrun doesn't like this. He prefers the style of King Qing Lu Xi: I am a foolish king. I insist on my own way. If I say I will beat you, I will beat you. If I say I will beat you every day, I will beat you every day!
Therefore, in the past twenty years, Chu State was beaten by Qi State and could not take care of itself.
But it is a pity that even the ministers of Qi State cannot accept the behavior of King Lu Xi of Qi who goes his own way. King Lu Xi of Qi, a wise king in Zhao Hongrun's eyes, has mixed praise and criticism, not to mention that Wei State has not yet opened up.
A country with precedent.
Two days later, Prince Zhao Run issued the "Order to Combat Hu", officially using troops against Lin Hu in the Hetao area.
In fact, according to the process of a Central Plains country declaring war, there is still one missing step in the process, which is that before attacking another country, you must deliver your credentials and tell that country that I am going to attack you.
Of course, this refers to the Central Plains countries. As for the treatment of foreigners, there is no need for this. After all, the Central Plains people do not classify those uncivilized 'beasts' into the category of human beings - and Wei's various previous statements,
Including Zhao Hongrun's "order to punish Hu", it was actually for the Wei people and other countries in the Central Plains to see.
Generally speaking, as long as a war is waged against a foreign nation, the Central Plains people will almost applaud. After all, the nomads have indeed done a lot of evil to the people of the Central Plains countries.
On May 26, the twenty-fifth year of Hong De, Prince Zhao Run issued an edict in Chui Gong Hall, appointing General Shao Hu as the "General to Conquer Hu", leading the three generals Long Ji, Yi Gu, Zhao Bao, and Yu
The second son of Wang Zhao Yuanji, Zhao Chengyue, led 50,000 Wei Wu troops to conquer Linhu in Hetao.
At the same time, Prince Zhao Run also appointed Pang Huan, Sima An, and Lintao Jun Wei Ji as deputy generals (partial division commanders). In addition to Pang Huan leading his subordinates to suppress the rebel army, Zhao Hongrun appointed Sima An to be in charge of the Yanling Army, and Lintao Jun Wei Ji to be in charge of the merchants.
The naval force comprehensively strengthened the Hexi and Hedong divisions.
In addition, Prince Zhao Run also appointed Marquis of Yan Zhao Jiang, Marquis of Huan Zhao Xuan, Prince of Chengling Zhao Shen, and Marquis of Anping Zhao Tan as generals to assist the main army.
This time, the Wei State dispatched "Hexi Army (formerly Dangshan Army)", "Hedong Army (including Fenyin Army and Puban Army)", "Northern First Army", "Southern Yan Army (the third army of Yanhou Zhaojiang)"
Nine elite divisions of the Wei State including "Dai Nan Yan Army", "Shang Shui Army", "Yan Ling Army", "You Ma Army", "Wei Wu Army", and "Suppression of Rebellion Army", with a total strength of more than 300,000, plus
The private army accompanied by domestic nobles is conservatively estimated to have a strength of 400,000.
When this news spread to various countries in the Central Plains, people from all over the world turned their attention to it.
You must know that ten years ago, the Wei State only had six garrison battalions and a total of six standing armies that could be used for battle. The full number of troops was only 80,000. However, ten years later, the Wei State was able to dispatch an army of 400,000 in one go. It is conceivable that these ten
The development momentum of Wei State has been so rapid in recent years.
Since it was a high-profile declaration of war against foreign nations, people from all over the Central Plains greatly appreciated Wei's move. After all, there has always been a "Hu Rong threat theory" spread in the Central Plains, fearing that one day the Central Plains would be invaded by the Hu Rong, which would deprive the Central Plains of "Shangguo".
"Subjects", became slaves of a foreign race with long-haired men. "PS: It suddenly occurred to me, how about writing about the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms in the next book?"
Except for one group of people, that is the people in power in South Korea.
For example, Lihou Hanwu, who is now in power in South Korea, knows very well that Wei's dispatch of troops to Lin Hu means that the "Wei-Korean competition" has officially begun. He is waiting for Wei to expel Lin Hu and occupy the Hetao, or for him to conquer South Korea.
By destroying the Donghu in the north and the Xiongnu in the northwest, the two countries will end their current honeymoon period and start the final war - this war will ultimately determine the status of Wei and South Korea in the Central Plains and determine who is the overlord of the Central Plains.
It is precisely because of this that Wei's dispatch of troops stimulated South Korea, forcing Lihou Hanwu to send more troops to the north again. At the same time, he ordered Yuyang to guard Qin Kai, Beiyan to guard Leyi, and the ten tycoons of the New Taipei Plain who replaced the original governor Ju Xin.
The famous general Sima Shang and the three parties sent troops to conquer Donghu at the same time, striving to destroy Donghu before Wei won the "Battle of Hetao".
And it was during this war that the ten tycoons of North Korea and Yuyang guarded Qin Kai. They severely damaged Donghu and forced Donghu to retreat thousands of miles to the north. "Note: Qin Kai (a descendant of the Lu royal family and a general of Yan) in history was such a tiger.
Chasing the most powerful "Beirong-Donghu" at that time, they pursued all the way to the Korean Peninsula. It can be understood that the Liaodong area was conquered by Qin Kai and left to our descendants. Personally, I feel that this is a buried famous general. In comparison
Li Mu, who severely inflicted heavy losses on the Xiongnu, did not give in too much, but he just had no chance to fight against the Qin army, which was known as the most powerful at that time. In addition, the "Qin Wuyang (or Qin Wuyang)" who Jing Ke assassinated in Qin was Qin Kai's grandson
.』
During this period, Ma She, the guardian of Shanggu, also deployed troops outside the country, eyeing Loufan to prevent Loufan from aiding Donghu.
In early June, Wei generals Shaohu, Sima An, Wei Ji, and Pang Huan launched attacks on Hetao. The main attack direction was "Heshang (Shangjun)". To the west of this place is "Yiqu", and to the northwest is where Linhu is.
The place is called "In the Forest" because of its dense forest.
This is also the origin of the name "Lin Hu": Lin Hu, that is, "Lin Hu", simply means the Hu people who live in and near the forest.
However, Lin Hu does not call himself that way. They only call themselves "Hu", just like the people of Wei state call themselves Wei people. Hu means "people" in the northern national culture. As for Dong Hu, Lin Hu and Qiang Hu
, Beihu, etc. These are just added by the Central Plains people themselves to distinguish these Hu ethnic groups. The Hu people have never admitted that they have their own tribal names for distinguishing, such as "Ding Ling", "Tie Le", "
"Chile" and so on. "Note: These are all transliterations."
In June, the Wei army moved very quickly, and within a few days, a steady stream of good news arrived in Daliang like snowflakes.
At this time, in the Daliang Palace, Prince Zhao Run came to Chui Gong Hall for a rare occasion.
In the main hall of Chui Gong Hall, he erected a wooden board half a foot wide and one foot long, and hung a "Map of the Kingdom of Wei" drawn by an official from the Ministry of Works on it.
And a group of young eunuchs on his side, headed by Gao Li and Gao He, marked the various Wei armies on the map according to the progress of the Wei army as mentioned in the victory report every day, and also marked the general location of the Hu tribe in Hetao Lin.
location.
Zhao Hongrun goes to Chui Gong Hall every day to follow this "real-time battle situation."
To be honest, Shao Hu, Sima An, Wei Ji, and Pang Huan are all famous generals in Wei State who are good at fighting. Zhao Hongrun does not need to worry too much. Of course, Zhao Hongrun is not worried, he just feels a little itchy and unbearable.
You must know that this battle was a grand event for the opening up of territory. If the Wei army defeated Lin Hu and captured the Hetao area, even if Zhao Hongrun was sitting in the Chui Gong Hall of the Daliang Palace, his indelible achievements would still be left in the history books.
, but the problem is, he is not someone who only cares about results.
Compared with the short-term pleasure after getting the result, the process will make people feel continuously happy...
Therefore, the process is very important!!
However, it is a pity that Zhao Hongrun, who is now the crown prince of the Kingdom of Wei, has no chance of leading thousands of troops to fight in the north and south like he did back then.
Depressedly, Zhao Hongrun moved a stool and sat in front of the "Live Strategy Map", silently.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind: Anyway, there are many internal court ministers and six ministers who jointly manage the government. I, the prince, is just a clay sculpture, why not...
Zhao Hongrun touched his chin, feeling itchy, and waved to Lu Mu, the chief of the Zong's Guards beside him - ever since Wei Jiao, the original Zong's Guards Chief, became Li Zheng's deputy in preparation for taking over the Daliang Palace Guards in the future, Lü Mu had taken his place.
Wei Jiao became Zhao Hongrun's bodyguard.
"Your Highness?" Seeing His Highness calling, Lu Mu came over with some confusion. He lowered his head according to Zhao Hongrun's instructions and listened to the latter say a few words in his ear.
Just after hearing this sentence, Lu Mu's eyes widened with fright, and he shook his head repeatedly and said: "Your Highness, you must not..."
"Shh!" Zhao Hongrun glared at Lu Mu, and then glanced at several young eunuchs in the palace.
Lu Mu knew he had lost his composure, so he quickly lowered his voice and said: "Your Highness, you are no longer what you used to be. How can you come to the front line in person with your body of wealth?"
"Stop talking nonsense." Zhao Hongrun interrupted Lu Mu's dissuasion, hooked his neck, and said in a low voice: "I'll give you two ways to go, or you can pretend you don't know anything, and I'll find someone else to think of something else.
There is a way; alternatively, you can help me honestly...what do you say?"
After hearing this, Lu Mu hesitated.
Oh my god, help the current prince in front of him to escape from Daliang privately and go to the front line of the battlefield. If the officials in the court find out about this, Lu Mu believes that those officials will definitely skin him.
"...Even to His Majesty and Concubine Shu, it's not easy to explain."
Lu Mu thought with twinkling eyes.
Not sure if he guessed what Lu Mu was thinking, Zhao Hongrun pulled Lu Mu to a corner and jokingly threatened: "If you dare to secretly tell the truth, I will put you in the inner chamber and cut off your vagina."
"Bye bye." Even though he knew that His Highness was mostly joking, Lu Mu still felt a slight chill between his legs, and he hurriedly whispered softly: "You have to carry on the ancestral lineage of my Lu family for my humble position..."
"Then what do you say?" Zhao Hongrun said coldly.
Lu Mu thought for a while and nodded.
After that, Zhao Hongrun called Zhou Pu, Mu Qing, and Chu Heng. The others, like Zhu Gui, He Miao, Zhongzhao, and others, had already accompanied the Shang Shui Army on the expedition to Hetao. After all, they were also the generals of the Shang Shui Army.
Not to mention that one day he would most likely be appointed as the commander-in-chief of an army, so Zhao Hongrun naturally sent these people to the front lines early to hone their skills and gain some merit along the way.
After Zhou Pu, Mu Qing, and Chu Heng arrived, Zhao Hongrun took them and Lu Mu to the side hall and whispered his thoughts to them.
Zhou Pu is a person who is very aware of current affairs, and of course he will not disobey Zhao Hongrun. As for Mu Qing, this guy is even more restless than Zhao Hongrun. He immediately supported his Highness’s proposal with both hands. The rest, Chu Heng, is stubborn.
The reckless man obeyed Zhao Hongrun's advice, so the matter was quickly decided.
Before setting off, Zhao Hongrun said hello to his Crown Princess Mi Jiang.
Mi Jiang seemed very calm about the matters raised by her husband. Perhaps she also felt that it was too unqualified for a commander as good at fighting as her husband to stay in the rear.
She just asked Zhao Hongrun to take Zhao Que with him. After all, Mi Jiang quite recognized Zhao Que's martial arts skills.
Zhao Hongrun had no objection to this, because he was going to take Zhao Que with him. After all, Zhao Que was obedient to him.
So that evening, Zhao Hongrun, accompanied by Zhao Que, Lu Mu, Zhou Pu, Mu Qing, and Chu Heng, picked up an inconspicuous carriage and quietly slipped out of the beam.
Regarding this matter, Ya Wu, the leader of the Daliang branch of the Qing Ya Zhong, felt very sad. After much deliberation, he finally did not dare to "report" the Crown Prince to the court, so he simply handed over the things in his hands to his subordinates and took his two children with him.
More than a dozen Green Crows followed Zhao Hongrun and his party and quietly followed them to Daliang.
When it came to the morning court the next day, all the officials in the court discovered that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who usually came to preside over the morning court, was nowhere to be seen.
Therefore, Du You, the Minister of Rites, sent people to both the Prince's Mansion and the East Palace to urge him, but no trace of Prince Zhao Run could be found.
"What? His Royal Highness is missing?"
After hearing the report from his subordinates, Du You, the Minister of Rites, was dumbfounded.