February 24, the second year of Qianning, was overcast.
Outside Huoqiu County in Shouzhou, the wheat seedlings are green.
Shao Shude sat on his horse and carefully observed the marching column.
You have to keep a close eye on these new recruits, otherwise they can walk in the wheat fields and trample all the good wheat seedlings for you.
But not destroying crops does not mean that they do not ask for anything. In fact, the action of collecting and apportioning grain has been launched almost from the beginning.
Lack of food is the biggest threat to the tens of thousands of Xia troops in Nanyang and Huai River areas.
The four prefectures of gold merchants were already plundering their property, and Xiangyang was also imposing temporary levies. Wu Yu, the governor of Anzhou, was forced to go to the local tyrants to negotiate for food. Du Hong pinched his nose and gave some away. Shen and Guang prefectures also seized some, but the income Very little.
The biggest harvest was after the invasion of Caizhou, where more than 100,000 dendrobiums of grain were obtained, and Xinxi, Zhenyang, and Baoxin were also seized sporadically.
Such a vigorous effort to raise grain has only pushed the time when the grain will run out from the original April or May to the end of July or early August. It seems that there is still a little time before the new grain harvest, but fortunately, Shi Zan has more than 10,000 troops. The people have already escorted the grain and grass from Guanzhong on the way, so they should be able to get through with difficulty.
But no matter what, these places have overdrawn their roots this year, and taxes will be cut next year. Otherwise, the people may be forced to starve to death or flee due to exorbitant taxes.
On the distant land, more than a hundred riders were fighting each other.
After discovering that the large group of troops had entered Shouzhou eastward, Huoqiu County was panicked, and the county magistrate immediately surrendered. But outside the city, there were still some people who were taking advantage of the terrain to harass them.
Among them, the famous Zhu Jingzhe led a group of followers and took advantage of their familiarity with the geography to launch sneak attacks in the Qiuxu forest, causing dozens of casualties.
It's okay if they are dead, but the injured are the most troublesome. Should we take care of them or evacuate them? This will take up manpower and troops.
The cavalry from both sides fought for a while, and the Weisheng cavalry general made a dance from the ancient tree and swept one of the thieves off his horse. The remaining soldiers could not resist the enemy and fled one after another.
"Commander, this guy is Zhu Jing's man." After a while, the new tenth general Li Zhong dragged over a prisoner who was tortured into a human shape and said.
Shao Shude looked at the captive who had suffered a lot and said, "It's up to you to tell me, where is the Liang man?"
"Come back to the commander, according to what the prisoners said, Liang Ren should still be in Shouzhou. How many people don't know, he also heard it mentioned by others."
"Where's the Huai River?"
"There are ships transporting grain and equipment, that's all he knows."
Shao Shude nodded.
He estimated that Shi Shucong would bring at least 30,000 people over, judging from the number of Xusu's defenders. But where they were and what the composition of the troops was, it was still difficult to find out.
The only certain facts are: first, the Liang army appeared in Shouzhou, with both infantry and cavalry, but the number is unknown; second, the general in charge of the army was Shi Shucong, who was also in Shouzhou; third, there were people transporting supplies on the Huai River.
Of course, this was information from before, and it is hard to say whether it has changed now. This prisoner has a low status, so it is pretty good that he knows so much.
"Who is Zhu Jing?" Shao Shude asked again.
"A local tycoon in Shouzhou has a small fortune, but he is not too rich. He has a reputation for bravery in the countryside, and is bold and smooth. Many people admire him." Li Zhong replied: "Huoqiu is bounded north and south, and thieves meet. Zhu
Jing recruited a group of young men with special skills to patrol everywhere, and no bandits along the Huaihe River would dare to commit any crimes."
"Find a way to recruit this person to surrender." Shao Shude ordered: "When the two armies are fighting, each is its own master. He fought for Quanzhong under Quanzhong's rule. It is his duty. I don't blame him. If you are willing to surrender, you can entrust him with it."
As the governor of Shouzhou."
Zhu Jing should be a small-time rich man, not a big influence. However, he is brave and courageous, and has a good reputation in the local area, which makes up for his lack of hard power to a certain extent.
And there should be ways to win over people. The young knight-errants all obey him and are willing to die for him. This kind of local snake is worth winning over. Anyway, in places like Shen, Guang, and Shou, facing the military fronts of Zhu Quanzhong and Yang Xingmi, the situation is extremely complicated.
It is inevitable for a battle to break out in both ends of the world, and it is too far away from Shao Shude's core territory for him to rule directly, so it is inevitable to win over local powerful factions.
"As ordered." Li Zhong responded.
"If he is unwilling to surrender, don't get used to it. There are many people in this world who cannot see the situation clearly, and he is not missing." Shao Shude then ordered: "Continue to advance the army without delay."
Huoqiu County actually has a lot of grain and grass, and Shouzhou is richer than Shenzhou. Now it seems to be an undoubted fact.
More than 40,000 grains and beans solved the urgent need of the army. You must know that this time, everyone only brought ten days of dry food, and there was no stable logistics supply team. Shao Shude came here on a trial basis. If he could not raise enough military supplies, he would
He returned to Guangzhou. Since there was food in Huoqiu County, he would further test and shake him up. If his judgment was correct, the main force of the Liang Army could not come so soon.
If you ask what you should do if you come? Then run away, what else is there to worry about? If you expect these new recruits of Cai thieves to fight with Liang Jun's yamen soldiers, you will be thinking that your life will be long.
After Li Zhong left, Zhe Conggu came again.
"General Zhe fought well." Shao Shude praised.
"Does Your Majesty want to recruit Zhu Jing to surrender?" Zhe Conggu said: "This thief is cunning and treacherous. He hides in swamps, dense forests, and hillsides to attack our army. What's the use of such a dirty trick?"
"General Zhe is brave when he is brave, but he does not know that when conquering the world, you must not use emotions." Shao Shude said: "Didn't Zhe Linggong gather hostile tribes when he was in Guanbei in the early years?"
It is silent from ancient times.
Seeing that he stopped talking, Shao Shude changed his tone again and said: "General Zhe has also made great achievements in the past few years. If you fight hard, you may not be without a good background in the future. I will not return the official position, wealth, and all the rewards from the beautiful concubine."
Will be stingy."
If Zhe had some enlightenment from ancient times, he replied: "Your Majesty acts according to the law, and I will always admire him."
"Quickly lead the cavalry forward to Feishui (pi) to check the enemy's situation." Shao Shude looked at his expression again and saw that he was still sincere, so he ordered the attack: "Feishui, Feishui, is the east and west sides of Shouzhou.
If you encounter the enemy and fight against the enemy's barrier, you will be responsible for it yourself."
The Peishui River originates from the Dabie Mountains and flows northward into the Huai River. It is a natural barrier to the west or south of Anfeng in Shouzhou.
"As commanded."
After Zhe Conggu left, he immediately summoned his subordinates and headed east.
Shao Shude looked at Huoqiu County in the northwest. The county was already organizing manpower to reinforce the city walls, transport food and grass, and place the wounded.
The three states of Shen, Guang, and Shou are lined up and sandwiched between mountains and rivers. For him, an external force coming from the west, it is actually not easy to defend. He must station heavy troops, which is not very cost-effective.
These three states are very important to Yang Xingmi. If they are further divided, their importance decreases from east to west.
These three states are somewhat important to Zhu Quanzhong. After all, without these places, he still has the Huaihe River defense line, although this line of defense is not very reliable.
These three states are not very important to Shao Shude, because there are many places where the Xuanwu Army can be attacked, and this is just a local battlefield.
But he didn't want to give up the victory he had won. Will Yang Xingmi get involved? This is what he is more worried about.
…
Zhu Jing hid in a small tea garden, and many people gathered around him.
"Dalang, Thief Xia has released the King Kong slave." Someone came in hurriedly to report.
"Why let him go if he's fine?" Zhu Jing sneered while boiling tea.
"It's not that Da Lang is talented, Zhu Quanzhong values him, and Yang Xingmi wants to win over him, but now Shao Shude actually wants to win over Da Lang, haha!"
"On the border of Shouzhou, there are dense forests, ruins, and forests. Who else but us should not suffer a little?"
"This is a good opportunity! Let's put it all together, Zhu Quanzhong, Yang Xingmi, Shao Shude, which one should we invest in?"
"Of course, whichever company gives more money invests in that company, haha!"
"Idiot! If you have a life, you can take money, but if you have no life, you can spend it. We will only vote for the side that can win."
"A turtle, are you feeling itchy? You dare to say that I am stupid and go out to do some gesticulations!"
"That's enough!" Zhu Jing slapped the table, and everyone closed their mouths and looked at him quietly.
"The jackal slave is right, we vote for whoever can win." Zhu Jing lowered his head to add ingredients to the tea soup, but did not stop talking and continued: "Agui, you have read a book and know many people.
Do you know what the situation is like in the north now?"
Agui was an agile man, holding a bow tip in his hand. Hearing this, he said: "I heard that Shao Shude fought continuously and killed Zhu Quanzhong with his head rolling. He has already entered Luoyang, deposed the current saint, and allowed the queen, concubine
Concubine, the princesses take turns attending to her bed after nightfall, even Princess Pingyuan, who is only seven years old, is not spared."
"You spend all day inquiring about this information?" Zhu Jing glanced at him sideways and said, "Even sitting in the countryside of Shouzhou, I know that the saint is in Chang'an, not Luoyang. Furthermore, there has been no queen in the Tang Dynasty for many years. You
What news are you asking for?"
After that, he picked up the boots on the side and hit Agui directly in the face, cursing: "Could it be the rumors I heard in the brothel?"
Agui covered his face and ran away with his head in his hands.
The vajra slave who was released limped in and was a little confused when he saw it.
Zhu Jing stood up in person, walked to Vajra Slave, inspected it carefully, and said: "Fortunately, it's just a flesh wound. Brother is suffering, but I am incapable of saving you."
"There's a scar as big as a bowl on my head, nothing's wrong!" The vajra slave did anything when he was caught, but this time he still pretended to be heroic.
Zhu Jing laughed heartily, pulled Vajra Nu to sit next to him, poured the boiled tea into a bowl, and said, "First have a bowl of tea to calm down the shock."
The vajra slave wanted to speak but stopped.
Zhu Jing smiled proudly and said: "I know what you want to say. It's just a promise from the Xia people. Tell me, how much money do the Xia people want to give me? What official position? Could it be Huo Qiuling?"
Zhu Jing is self-aware and knows that a local tycoon like him is very fearful to those in power.
Yang Xingmi wooed him, and the price he offered was nothing more than a Huoqiu general.
Perhaps, in Yang Xingmi's eyes, he was just a little shrimp, far less worthy of winning over someone like Wu Yu, the governor of Anzhou.
As for Zhu Quanzhong, he probably didn't even know him. If someone else in the state hadn't known about his reputation and rewarded him with a batch of silk and gave him the identity of the deputy envoy of the Pixi regiment training, he wouldn't have bothered to fight for his life against the Xia thieves.
What can Shao Shude give? Shouzhou is not even his territory.
"He is the governor of Shouzhou." King Kong Nu replied.
"What?" Zhu Jing was a little surprised.
But then I thought about it, Shouzhou is now the territory of the Jiang family, and the Jiang family is a vassal of Zhu Quanzhong. Shao Shude is completely showing generosity to others.
But how can I put it, it’s a bit too much.
If the Xia people can invade Shouzhou, maybe it will be an opportunity?
Now there are only a thousand people at hand. If you become the governor of a state, it will be a big leap. Is it worth the chance?
The Xia people's strength seems to be adequate now.
Being able to break into Caizhou and forcing Zhu Quanzhong to mobilize so many soldiers and horses already illustrates the problem.
I heard that they also fought well in the north. Although they did not enter Luoyang as Agui said, they probably caused a lot of losses to the Liang people.
I don't know if the Xuanwu Army can continue to support this ship. It may be necessary to find more escape routes.
No one in this world can guarantee what will happen in the future. Both Yang Xingmi and Shao Shude have access to it. Shao Shude has a large territory, is generous to others, and is willing to be the governor, which is of course good. Yang Xingmi has a small territory, and he is not willing to be the governor. Yes, it seems a bit stingy, but this line cannot be broken.
In this world, it's not enough to just be able to fight and dare to fight hard, you also have to use your brain.
"Gather your troops and retreat to Huoshan. Let's wait and see first." Zhu Jing made up his mind and said, "Don't go too far and let people see at a glance that we are retreating without a fight."