As the polar continental air mass strengthened, cold fronts continued to move forward. The western Pacific subtropical high was beaten back steadily, defeated, and completely withdrew from the land of Henan.
Affected by this, it has been snowing heavily in Yunzhou for several days.
In such severe cold weather, Wang Shifan and his party arrived at Shagou Station, two miles northeast of Yunzhou, and stayed there.
Outside the inn, there were hunters selling hares, pheasants and other prey. The inn general spoke with a Kansai accent, and instead of foaming at the mouth, he bought it at a relatively low price, which made him smile immediately.
Wang Shifan had nothing to do, so he started chatting with the hunter.
"Seeing as your archery skills are good, why don't you join the army?" Wang Shifan asked as he took the hot tea from his fifth brother Shi Lu.
"You think I don't want to?" Orion said impatiently: "The King of Xia only recruited troops once in Yunzhou. I went there late and didn't take my turn."
"What a pity." Wang Shifan said with a smile: "The King of Xia will not recruit troops again in Yunzhou, right? Don't you resent it?"
Orion looked Wang Shifan up and down, suddenly smiled, and said: "The three hundred thousand Xia soldiers haven't left yet, how are you treating me? I'm afraid I can't even go up the mountain to be a thieves."
Three hundred thousand... Wang Shifan was speechless. If an army of three hundred thousand really came, he would probably run out of food first.
"The Xia soldiers have to leave. Once the Guanxi people come, there will be few people in Yunzhou who can become warriors. Do you really feel resentful?" Wang Shifan asked.
Orion looked at him and said nothing.
Wang Shifan waved, and a servant came over and thrust half a bunch of copper coins into the hunter's hand.
The Orion looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to them nearby, so he whispered: "It is useless to rely on me alone. Zhu Quanzhong killed many Yunzhou warriors, and the rest were taken over by the King of Xia."
There were only 30,000 in the first place. How many have been lost over the years? I can’t even count them. I heard from a small official in Xuchang County that there were probably 70,000 to 80,000. There really aren’t many warriors who dare to fight.
too much."
This was a typical killing, killing the most elite, courageous and rebellious person in a vassal town. It was not the first time. Zhu Quanzhong killed more, Shao Shude killed less, but the final blow was completed.
Among the remaining people, if they are exhausted, they can still organize a group of warriors, that is, 30,000 people, but their quality is definitely not as good as the first, second, and third batches before. In addition, there is no one to take the lead, and Yuncheng is considered useless.
Already.
The situation in Yanzhou is similar to that in Yunzhou. Zhu Quanzhong was once the great culprit of Zhu Xuan, Zhu Jin, and Shi Pu. He killed countless sergeants from the three towns. After Yanzhou was killed this time, only a few embers were left in the counties.
.If someone organizes it, or they can barely pull themselves together, but they need time to recover, Shao Shude will definitely not give them this opportunity.
"You are indeed well-informed." Wang Shifan praised.
"You're looking down on me, aren't you? I haven't been to any of the counties in Xuchang, Shouzhang, and Yuncheng?" Orion weighed the coins, stuffed them into his bag, and said, "We can't make a fuss anymore. Those young men in the countryside, alas, always...
I feel that I am not as brave as the group of people ten years ago. At that time, some people dared to wrestle with me and win a piece of animal skin. Some people dared to compete with me in archery, and some practiced hard with guns and sticks. Now, there are fewer people in the village who know these things, and there are many martial arts skills.
The inheritance is about to end.”
"Why is there less?" Wang Shifan was puzzled.
Orion glanced at him, as if looking at a fool.
"He's dead." Orion said: "My family lives in Kaoshandian. There are seven villages in total. There are more than 20 men who are good at archery and spear shooting. Many young people practice with them. Jiedushi Zhu Xuan was defeated.
, there were repeated conscriptions, and these people rushed to join the army, but they never came back. If they don’t come back, won’t the young people in the village have no choice but to practice randomly?”
"These years of soil..." At this point, Orion spat and said: "Every year is worse than the previous year. Many young people can't even beat an old man like me."
The military tradition is dying, alas, Wang Shifan also sighed. The rural Tuan Tuan is the cornerstone of a feudal town's military force. People will always die in wars, and new soldiers must be recruited when people die. The best supplement is the young people who practice hard in their spare time.
The source of soldiers is indeed a pity.
Wang Shifan suddenly remembered the post general of Shagou Post. He seemed to be an old soldier of the Xia Army. He looked like he was in his forties. All his five sons were practicing martial arts. In the yard just now, he saw a young man nearby mentioning
He came over with a gift and said he wanted to learn from his master and practice spear skills with him.
This is restoring the military tradition, but there are too few such people.
I wonder how many people will be able to keep practicing after the world is at peace, because it is very likely that they will not see any benefits. If there is an invasion from a foreign enemy, can they still organize effective local soldiers to defend Sangzi?
Wang Shifan asked someone to fetch another piece of silk, gave it to Orion, and sent him away.
The wind and snow outside the inn were getting heavier and heavier, and the thousand Tielin Army cavalry who were guarding them were wrapping blankets on the horses.
Wang Shifan had already noticed these things.
The soldier wore a sweater. I heard that Guanbei, Heyang and other places could use wool to deduct taxes. The collected wool should be woven into clothing and distributed as clothing gifts in spring and autumn.
Shao Shude always has some tricks up his sleeve.
******
In Yunzhou City, the streets were covered with snow.
The war has passed for quite some time, and local order has basically been restored.
After the officials took office, the state and county-level institutions began to operate. After the state army was established, local security was also greatly improved.
Except for a few of the defeated soldiers who were scattered in the countryside and became bandits and were chased by the state army, most of them took off their military uniforms and honestly fended for themselves.
It is true that these people are unsettling factors. But just as firewood needs fire to ignite it, without an open flame, no matter how much firewood is piled up, it is useless. Without thorns, no matter how many troops are defeated, it will not be organized.
Previously, Zhu Han and Zhu Yu had attracted many unwilling defeated troops, and they were immediately suppressed. Now only Zhu Xuan was left wandering in the mountains, and was defeated by Ye Li and Wang Jiao. They jointly pursued and suppressed him. He was very embarrassed. I heard that
After escaping to Yanzhou, it seemed that he could no longer make a big splash.
In the streets and alleys, Zhu Xuan is still the object of discussion among tea drinkers and drunkards. But anyone who cares can notice that as time goes by, he is mentioned less and less. As time goes by, this festival that was once all-powerful in Yunzhou
It is estimated that Du Shi will slowly disappear from people's memory.
This is how the human heart is slowly conquered. It takes time to settle, no doubt.
Jiedu envoy Ren Yuji was hosting a banquet in his mansion to entertain the capital's envoy Zhu Shuzong.
The people who accompanied them were all their close followers, and there were no outsiders.
Ren Yuji repeatedly encouraged people to drink wine, and all the coaches made Zhu Shuzong not refuse anyone who came. He drank the bowl as soon as it was served, which was very generous.
"I'm used to drinking Shuofang Shengshao in Lingzhou, but this wine isn't strong enough." Zhu Shuzong laughed.
"Li Tangbin also likes to drink Shuofang Shengshao. He borrowed all my wine and never returned it. When I asked, he didn't have any. What can you do?" Ren Yuji shook his head and said.
"Li Tangbin is going to be the military governor of Pinglu Army, but he is still so stingy." Zhu Shuzong laughed again.
Li Tangbin was originally the Military Envoy of the Fengguo Army. He made great contributions to the victory over Qi Town this time. He will soon be appointed as the Military Envoy of the Pinglu Army, leading the four prefectures of Zi, Qing, Deng and Lai. The official appointment from the imperial court has not yet been announced, but
It is an open secret among the top brass.
The small vassal Feng Guojun will soon be abolished and merged into Shuofang Town, which is also the "Xia Kingdom" that everyone jokingly calls.
Since the unification of northern Guan, the Xia king has abolished many vassal towns such as Lingyan, Tiande, Zhenwu, Yifang, Yandan, Tonghua, Jingyuan, Xingning, Fengxiang, Fengtian, Shaanxi and Guo. If he does not leave,
If something unexpected happens, the towns of Fengguo, Jinshang, and Tang and Deng will be abolished next year.
In the future, Yaozhou, Dongdu, Heyang, Xuanwu and other towns are expected to be abolished one after another.
Towns are being withdrawn every year, and the intention is very obvious. There are still people who can serve as governors. Although they are privately called vassal towns in name only, in the future there will be no vassal towns in name only.
In this process, some people must be disappointed or even resentful, but so far I have not seen anyone openly oppose it. Maybe they accepted their fate, maybe they didn’t dare, or maybe because King Xia gave them a buffer and eliminated all the moves in one breath.
Relatively gentle.
But no matter what, the scope of Xia's control has expanded step by step and has extended to Henan, which explains everything.
"If Li Tangbin attacks Yanzhen again, the momentum will be even greater." Zhu Shuzong drank a little too much wine, and his words were quite envious: "There is Xu Zhen behind, and he will probably lead the attack."
"No, I will probably change the general later." Ren Yuji smiled mysteriously and said: "Gao Renhou captured Heyang and Dongdu, and now he is living leisurely in Luoyang. Is Lao Gao very old? He really can't go on an expedition.
If it weren't for Feng Yin being unable to help him, Xuzhou would never have let others interfere."
Even if he was a little drunk, Zhu Shuzong would not dare to answer this, as it would offend others.
"You and I have known each other since we were in Jinyang, what should we avoid?" Ren Yuji said with a smile: "Fengyin will probably send him a counselor. I heard that it is likely to be Shishu Cong."
Zhu Shuzong has never heard of such secrets. It seems that he is far away from the circles of Luoyang and Bianzhou, and his information is blocked.
"The descendants of Liang Di have been under observation for so long and are slowly being used." Zhu Shuzong was keenly aware of this signal and said, "Is it because..."
"Yes." Ren Yuji nodded solemnly and said: "Sooner or later, the king will have to take control, and it is still in Henan. There is no way around Liang's surrender."
"It should have been like this a long time ago." Zhu Shuzong rarely took the initiative to express his opinion.
If you can't give others real power and exercise control, you have to compensate in other ways. And this depends on whether others are willing or not.
The rumors of a knighthood that were released before were actually a kind of test, and they were asking for advice. Now it seems that despite their dissatisfaction and reluctance, everyone has accepted the reality and agreed.
Of course, Zhu Shuzong also wanted King Xia to proclaim himself emperor and establish the country as soon as possible, and then his son would be promoted to crown prince and marry his daughter as soon as possible.
After half a lifetime of military training, he has acquaintances and acquaintances all over the army. Everyone wants to sell him some face. But he has been working hard, suppressing all wrong thoughts, keeping his head down and doing the hard work for the old Shao family, isn't it?
Want something in return?
The two of them drank for a long time and were both a little tipsy.
"Yunzhou still has many great sights. Dalang might as well stay here for a while. I don't know much about the local government affairs. They are all left to the people below. I have a lot of free time. Why don't we go out together?
Shooting?" Ren Yuji took Zhu Shuzong's hand and asked with a smile.
"Next time." Zhu Shuzong said apologetically: "The construction of the Yunzhou Academy has been completed, and I have to rush to Luoyang. Wang Shifan left with a pat on the back, and more than ten thousand of his men were selected.
Your Majesty has ordered that Coach Du ask the Yamen to break them up and practice them for later use."
"Wang Shifan?" Ren Yuji smiled: "He lives in Shagouyi outside the city. If you want to know the details of those soldiers, you can ask him more. Several of his brothers are also in the army.
"General, who are the thorns? Ask them clearly and kick them out as soon as possible, or simply kill them. He is very frightened now, so he must know everything."