"Father!" On September 16, in Daizhou City, Li Siyuan bowed and saluted Li Keyong.
Li Keyong waved his hand, not looking very good.
"I heard there's a fight in the east?" he asked.
The news was actually not very clear, it was vague and indistinct, and it came from Youzhou.
Li Cunzhang came to report that there were scouts from behind the mountain who had discovered that the Xia soldiers had fought a big battle with the Khitans.
Dog bites dog, which sounds like good news. But the sad thing is that they are fighting on Li Keyong's original territory.
"I heard that the Xia soldiers sent out 50,000 troops to raid the Khitan. However, they only tried briefly and withdrew quickly after the attack." Li Siyuan replied.
"Hit and run?" Li Ke asked with his eyes focused.
"yes."
For some reason, Li Keyong suddenly became envious of Shao Shude for teaching the Khitans a lesson and killing them happily.
"Didn't the Khitans take revenge?" he asked again.
"I don't know." Li Siyuan also sent people north, but they were too far away from the battlefield and couldn't get any useful information.
"How many people are there in the Khitan? The losses this time should be heavy, right?" Li Keyong turned his head and looked to the north, where there were mountains and mountains, but he seemed to see thousands of horses galloping on the grassland.
"The Khitan should not have more than a million people." Li Siyuan said: "No matter what, tens of thousands of people will be plundered this time, maybe more."
I am afraid Hendejin Khan himself does not know the population figures of Khitan very well.
The Khitan system is an ancestral law passed down from the Yaonan clan. It serves the people in peacetime and serves as soldiers in wartime. Each household has two men. They prepare their own weapons and dry food. They are brought by the clan leader and are subordinated to the Yili Jin tent of the tribe.
Follow the eight tribes of Yi and leave Jin on the expedition.
Because the Khitan did not implement a census, we can only judge from the scale of their troops.
Three years later in history, in 902, Abaoji conquered the "barbarians in the southwest" and sent 400,000 troops.
In 916, Abaoji besieged Youzhou with "half a million horses" or "perhaps millions".
It is assumed that these figures are watertight. In 902, the Khitan had not invaded the Bohai Kingdom, and had not even invaded the land behind the Youzhou Mountain. The 400,000 soldiers meant that there were 200,000 households. Each of the eight Khitan tribes had 8-10 households.
There are 5-6 people in each household, and the rest of the slave tribes or plundered agricultural population. If these 200,000 households are divided in half between the Khitan and other tribes, then there will be a population of 14.5 million.
In fact, most of the "400,000 soldiers" were adequate. The total population of all ethnic groups under the Khitan rule at this time was probably less than one million, which was incomparable to that after the establishment of the Liao Kingdom.
After the establishment of the Liao Kingdom, the Shangjing Road alone, namely the Huangshui and Tuhuzhenshui basins, had a population of more than one million, with the nomadic population and the agricultural population accounting for half each - the Khitan was not a purely nomadic regime.
Before the Bohai Kingdom, there was a large agricultural population.
"Even if there are millions of people, what's the use!" Li Keyong lost his temper for some reason, and he just heard him say: "The tribe is strong and vulnerable, what trouble can it cause to Shao Thief?"
In the past, Lao Li didn't want the Khitans to be strong or able to fight, but now he hopes they can fight a little and create more trouble for the Shao thieves.
"Father, why don't you send someone to contact the Khitan?" Li Siyuan suggested: "There is always a source of help. It would be good if we can contain the Xia soldiers."
Li Keyong remained silent, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed.
We have fought two wars before, and recently invaded the land behind Youzhou Mountain. How can someone as proud as you, Lao Li, be willing to cooperate with the Khitan?
Li Siyuan quietly glanced at his adoptive father's face and understood immediately.
This can be done, and the adoptive father will pretend he doesn't know.
"Can the land of Yun Wei still hold up?" Li Keyong didn't want to talk about the Khitan anymore, and asked: "Tens of thousands of people were plundered this time, and the states were broken. Life will not be easy in the future."
"The Xia people can't take down Yunzhou's fortified city. General Shi's flag is still flying on top of the city. It's safe and sound." Li Siyuan said: "There is nothing wrong with Yunzhou, Wei, Xin, Yi, and Guizhou will be fine. After half the time, there will be nothing."
In a few months, the Xia people should withdraw, and perhaps they are already preparing to retreat at this time. Father, maybe we can send troops to pursue them."
Li Keyong was about to speak but stopped.
Of course he knew the advantages of pursuing the enemy while they were retreating, but there was really no one.
Lanshi, Yundai, Zelu, and Xingmingci had to divide their troops for guarding everywhere, and faced pressure from the Xia people everywhere. Even if Jinyang came out in the air, he could only spare 30,000 troops at most.
But these 30,000 people really can't be taken away. If something happens somewhere, there will be no reinforcements. In other words, he can take at most 20,000 people to attack. With such a small number of people, in a battle of 100,000 scale,
, too little.
I was so exhausted that I mobilized some elite cavalry to follow the Xia people's rear troops to gain some small advantages, that's all.
Li Siyuan was also a smart man. Seeing that his adoptive father was silent, he stopped mentioning the matter and said with a smile: "Father, Xingzhou has sent more than 10,000 new soldiers, and the fifth battalion is complete."
The whole thing is the establishment, not the establishment.
In fact, in order to make up for the losses in the Cixi War, Li Keyong ordered the establishment of five new battalions of soldiers, mainly composed of Ding Zhuang from the tribes of Xing Mingci, Yun, and Wei. So far, there is only the left battalion, and the right battalion is fully staffed.
, ten thousand each.
The front camp, middle camp, and rear camp, which had only been formed for a month or two, each had only three to five thousand men and horses.
The fifth battalion of the new army, with a total of 30,000 infantry from Xingmingci and 3,000 inland tribal cavalry, will not be of much use in the short term and can only be used for training and guarding the passes.
"The fifth battalion of new troops is having a good drill." Li Keyong forced a smile and didn't say much.
This year the Xia army launched a large-scale attack on Yunzhou, which was very shocking to him.
In the past, I only knew that Shao Shude had many soldiers, but I didn't understand it perceptually. Now suddenly, the three battlefields of Cixi, Datong, and Zelu were ignited at the same time, pinning him to the east of the river, and barely relying on the geographical advantage to defend him.
After fighting for half a year, he suddenly found that he could not even mobilize much mobile troops. If it were not for the strong support of the towns in Hebei, the flaws would have been exposed.
After a few more years of fighting, is there still hope for Hedong?
He suddenly remembered something. Just before leaving, his daughter (Wang Ke's wife) said that my uncle was a very nice person. If he started a new dynasty, he would not treat the Jinyang Li family badly, and maybe he could even be crowned king.
Li Keyong scolded his daughter until she burst into tears and scolded her for messing up the morale of the Hedong Army.
Thinking about it carefully at this time, it doesn't matter that he is determined, but he is afraid that the people below him also think so and are unwilling to fight to the death against Xia Bing.
Thinking of this section, he glanced at Li Siyuan.
Based on the way Shao, the sworn brother, treats people, if his nephew defected to him, he would probably have an official position and wealth, wouldn't he be willing to fight to the death? Is there something wrong with him if he has been defending the state with troops for so long?
However, he suppressed his unfounded suspicions. The main reason why Hedong can manage in today's troubled times with a single town is that the internal unity is united and the overall situation is on the rise. The good atmosphere is the main reason.
At this time, we cannot mess up our position. We must unite our own people, and more importantly, unite the towns in Hebei. Only in this way can the stalemate be possible.
****
After leaving the state government, Li Keyong went to the military camp outside the city.
The fifth battalion of new troops is actively training. The mood of the sergeants is not bad, because if they are willing, their families have moved to Xindai Erzhou.
Hedong is said to have one prefecture and seven prefectures, but when it comes to population, in fact most of them are concentrated in Taiyuan prefecture. The other six prefectures are vast and sparsely populated, and there are not many people - including the families of the sergeants who moved from Youzhou, now
There are more than 450,000 people in the 13 counties of Taiyuan Prefecture.
Well, actually not many. During the Tianbao period, there were nearly 800,000.
Fenzhou has the second largest population, with about 200,000 people.
The remaining six prefectures each have only tens of thousands of people, and the three counties of Qinzhou with the smallest population only have about 20,000 people, which is pitifully small.
The two prefectures of Xindai, if not counting the tribes that moved in, totaled less than 100,000. This was mainly due to Li Keyong's own evil and rebellion, when he stationed troops in Xindai to bargain with the court, and the five he brought over
However, thousands of troops were constantly looting the place. You must know that Li Keyong was the observer of the Xin Dynasty at that time, and this was his own territory.
Approximately 20,000 households or 11,20,000 people have moved here from Xingmingci, which has restored the popularity of this place. If families of sergeants continue to be moved here in the future, they will be arranged in Liao and Qin prefectures to enrich the local household registration.
Although Li Keyong didn't want to admit it, he still felt scared in his heart, and his physical movements were also very honest.
There are between 500,000 and 600,000 people in the three prefectures east of Zhaoyi. The whole territory is covered with plains, and is only separated from Xiangwei controlled by the Xia army. Once someone forces the river to cross the river and attacks northward, even if the city is defended, the Xia army's methods will
, I am afraid that many people will be robbed, there is no doubt about it.
Li Xiji repeatedly proposed to relocate Shandong people to Hedong. After Li Keyong thought about it, he finally started to implement it, but the action was still too slow. If the Xia army had not been restrained by Wei Bowufu who was ready to move, the three states of Shandong would have been caught in the flames of war.
Already.
"Lu Yanwei, Wang Rong sent people to deliver some farm tools and cattle, please distribute them as soon as possible." Li Keyong looked at Li Xiji, who personally presided over the restoration of farming affairs in the Xin Dynasty, and said.
"As ordered." Li Xiji responded.
He was a little surprised. The King of Jin finally understood the importance of people's livelihood. If there is no plowing, how can there be fighting? It's a pity that I only know now, is it a little too late? I hope it won't be too bad to make up for it.
In fact, he was also a little hesitant. Hedong was trapped. The mountains and rivers inside and outside were fortresses that protected them, but they were also shackles that trapped them. There was probably no hope for external expansion, and if they couldn't expand, they could only sit back and watch the enemy step by step.
Get stronger.
Within a year and a half, Shao Shude successively attacked and destroyed the three towns of Yun, Yan, and Qi, and gained more than ten states with a population of two to three million. Isn't it much better than what they had done?
Now all he can do is to do his best to repay the favor of King Jin over the years. To put it bluntly, it is to allow these people to take root and live and work in peace and contentment in the Xin Dynasty, which will also benefit all people in the future.
When the weather changed and Hedong was defeated, he had a clear conscience and was worthy of these people.
Li Keyong walked along the Tuosui River again.
It's autumn, the leaves are falling, and the scenery along the river is beautiful.
He stared blankly for a long time, not knowing what he was thinking.