On the twenty-first day of the first month of the sixth year of Qianning, a large group of cavalry arrived at Baqiao.
This is two thousand cavalry from Ma Zhi, escorting the crown prince of Xia, Shao Chengjie, to Chang'an.
The personnel from Mazhi went through a change of blood. The previous two thousand people mainly came from Guasha, Tanshan and other places, and were mainly Tibetan people.
After serving as the prince's personal army, he fought several battles in Huangzhou and Qizhou.
The water system in those places was really troublesome, so much so that they all liked to dismount and fight on foot, and most of their abilities could not be used. But to be honest, there were not many casualties during the battle, and too many died of illness, as many as four hundred. Public.
Especially in summer, many people were unable to adapt to the local hot and humid climate and fell ill on a large scale. The military medical officers who went to the north didn't even know what kind of disease they had, and had no idea what to do about it. In the end, they had to rely on their bodies to cope with it.
After losing 600 people from Mazhi, Shao Chengjie ordered to recruit loyal and brave people locally to supplement the establishment, so the scale of 2,000 people was maintained.
"Your Majesty!" Yang Liang, the envoy of the Golden Sword Army, Zhang Guiba, the deputy envoy, and Du Yanqiu, the Du Yuhou, who arrived earlier, all stepped forward to salute.
"Come here in the snow, thank you generals for your hard work." Shao Chengjie immediately returned the greeting.
Duan Ning, Shao Zhiyan, Shao Zhixing, Shao Zhiwei and others also came forward to pay homage.
Duan Ning, now a military judge from Ma Zhi, was not as senior as he was in the Dongdu shogunate before, but Duan Ning didn't care and bet on the prince.
"This is the duty of a martial artist, not to mention hard work." Yang Liang replied.
According to the order of King Xia, the Chang'an Expedition Camp was newly established. The commander was Gao Renhou, and the deputy commander was the prince Shao Chengjie, who also served as the military envoy.
This is an obvious political signal, and Yang Liang can naturally understand it.
Shao Chengjie watched with great admiration the large group of sergeants standing silently in the cold wind.
He walked along the ranks of the sergeants one by one and said a few words casually, and the warriors also said a few words in return.
Duan Ning stood aside and watched carefully.
The Crown Prince is imitating King Xia, but King Xia put a lot of effort into remembering the names, appearances, and military records of his soldiers, and the Crown Prince is still a little behind.
The most important thing is that the Crown Prince does not have the prestige of King Xia. It can be clearly seen that no matter how unruly a warrior is, he will lower his head in front of King Xia, but in front of the Crown Prince, they look at each other levelly, which already explains the problem.
Shao Chengjie stood in front of a sergeant, casually pulled out the bow tip from his waist, then untied the bow string from the leather bag and quickly tied it on. His movements were very skillful and he seemed to be well versed in this.
Everyone's eyes were attracted.
After tying it, Shao Chengjie slowly pulled the bow string to full strength and tested the strength. Then his movements suddenly became faster, he picked up the bow and arrow, and aimed at a tree. The whole process was smooth and flowing, and the rhythm was full of beauty.
Just hearing a "swish" sound, a jackdaw fell to the ground.
"I admire the prince's ability to use arrows to reach the gods." Yang Liang said with a smile and admiration.
The sergeants on the side also shouted at the officer's signal.
"Your Majesty, your archery skills are pretty good."
"The fruit is Your Highness's seed."
"The princess's archery skills are also good. How can the Second Saint's talent be any worse?"
"I wonder if I can shoot so accurately when I'm in battle?"
"The best is the best. On the battlefield, even if your performance is a little worse, it won't be much worse."
Listening to the warriors' chatter, Duan Ning looked at the Crown Prince worriedly.
These rough guys are used to fighting and have nothing nice to say. It is difficult for them to truly convince someone, even if he is a prince, general or minister. I hope the prince will not be affected by the noise of these killers.
Shao Chengjie didn't have any strange expression when he heard these words that seemed to be compliments but were a bit unpleasant.
My father often said that to hang out among martial artists, you must have a big heart.
In front of a warrior who has rolled out of the dead, the hierarchy is not so strict. Some people talk like birds, and it is not worth getting angry with him.
Conquering the hearts of these people is not something that happens overnight, but is a continuous process of hard work that lasts for decades.
He didn't quite understand it before, but after years of experience, he has more or less understood it.
My father rode his horse into the army. Before he could say anything, the sergeants cheered enthusiastically.
When he arrived in the army, he had to be signaled by the officers and the sergeants cheered, which was obviously not spontaneous.
Not enough effort has been put into it, and the prestige is not enough.
"Is the Baqiao camp ready?" Shao Chengjie returned the rifle bow to the soldiers and asked.
"There are enough barracks, but there is still some shortage of stables. The two counties of Chang'an and Wannian have recruited masters and stepped up construction." Yang Liang said: "The Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, Jing Zhao Yin Zheng Yuangui was a little uncooperative.
Conscripting the master. In the end, Han Quanjie sent people to find out the magistrates of Chang'an and Wannian counties, and this matter was taken care of."
The Golden Sword Army has 20,000 troops and more than 40,000 horses. Let’s not talk about food consumption and so on. You have to give the horses a place to live, and you must build a new stable. Zheng Yuangui is procrastinating and deliberately resisting softly. He will not be able to do so in the future.
tidy.
"That's good." Shao Cheng nodded and said: "Since I am an envoy for the army, the food, clothing, housing and transportation of the army cannot be ignored. There are many people from the golden sword, black pottery, flying bear, from the horse to the fourth army.
.”
The main officers of the Flying Bear Army will come to Baqiao to meet Shao Chengjie. The troops have already turned back to Tongzhou halfway, and the horses are being fostered in Shayuan Prison.
The headquarters of the Heijin Army is tentatively designated as Huazhou, relying on the three states of Hua, Shaanxi and Guo to supply grain and grass.
The total number of the Fourth Army is 61,000 soldiers and nearly 130,000 horses, which is equivalent to the appetite of more than 400,000 infantrymen. Wherever they are placed in the Central Plains, they will be eaten up, just like locusts passing through the border.
Places with pastures are better, such as Guozhou, Ruzhou, Caizhou, and Huaizhou. Without pastures, they can only feed grain, which consumes too much. After waiting for the iron cavalry who also have a huge appetite, the problem is determined, and Feilong's three armies return to Guanbei.
Finally, you can try to move one or two troops into Henan - the cavalry army squats in Caozhou when there is no war. It is not without reason because the local agricultural conditions are good.
"Your Majesty, when it comes to food and grass, we can transfer part of it to the north of Guan. To the east and south, we can also transport part of the hay to the pastures for consumption." Duan Ning suggested: "Over at Jingzhao Mansion, we can also think of ways, such as
Dulingyuan."
"This is a very good strategy." Shao Chengjie said: "The soldiers have come a long way and have worked hard. Today we will kill the sheep and start training tomorrow. All the forbidden gardens near Chang'an will be requisitioned and used as pasture."
After working in logistics for two years, Shao Chengjie now has an intuitive concept of the consumption of food and fodder for the army.
He was also good at mathematics, and he calculated in his spare time how much supplies the Fourth Army would need to support its more than 60,000 cavalrymen.
Based on the current situation in Guanzhong, pasture is indispensable if you want to support more cavalry. The same acre of land, if it is harvested three times every two years, will yield an average of one bushel and four bushels of corn a year, and an adult male
Four bushels of grain are consumed every year.
If you plant leguminous grass, one acre of land can support one large livestock, such as a horse. Of course, this is in the Central Plains, which has excellent agricultural conditions. In grasslands, one acre of land cannot support one large livestock, which is far from it.
There are many pastures in royal gardens such as Dulingyuan. However, it is probably not good grass and is mostly composed of weeds. Horses may not necessarily like to eat it. If they eat it, it will probably take half a day, or even more than half a day, to be full, so there is no need for it.
If you have time to train, you can graze all day long.
Feeding food is fast, and the horses are full in half an hour. There is plenty of time for training, but it is too luxurious.
It is imperative that the Royal Forbidden Garden be replanted with the high-calorie Dawan alfalfa newly developed by agricultural science to replace the low-calorie weeds.
With just one word, he requisitioned all the forbidden gardens used by the emperor for hunting. He was very decisive and showed no respect at all. He was in a completely different style from his father Shao Shude - the emperor of Guochao still liked hunting very much. Jingzong even went out to the city late at night to hunt foxes.
Bye.
After deciding the matter, Yang Liang said goodbye and left to reorganize his troops. Shao Chengjie left for the camp under the escort of General Ma Zhi.
"Your Majesty, do you want officials from Jingzhao Prefecture, Qianzhou, Yaozhou and other places to come to Baqiao?" Seeing everyone walking towards the camp, Duan Ning hurriedly chased after them and reminded them.
"Yes." Shao Chengjie thought for a while, feeling a little ashamed.
My father did not ask me to come here just to hang out with the big soldiers. In fact, integrating the political resources in Guanzhong is also one of the tasks, even more important.
I was so happy when I saw Wu Fu that I actually forgot about it. I had to be reminded by others. I shouldn't have.
Duan Ning is capable and a qualified staff member.
"Let's do this. Officials from all the counties in Jingzhao Prefecture will come to Baqiao before the end of the first year. If anyone dares not to come, I will ask Cong Mazhi to arrest them." Shao Chengjie said again: "If Zheng Yuangui dares to stop..."
"No, Crown Prince." Duan Ning said hurriedly: "Zheng Yuangui looks disgusting, but he can't actually be a monster. But he can't be killed easily. Just change him. It won't be troublesome."
"Do you think I'm that stupid? I even publicly killed the Minister of Punishment?" Shao Chengjie said with a smile: "Just tell Han Quanhui, he has a way to punish this person."
"The prince is wise." Duan Ning immediately flattered him.
It is not difficult to deal with Zheng Yuangui. The imperial court can just issue an order for him to go to the miasmatic land in the south to serve as governor. Out of sight, out of mind, there is no need to dirty his hands.
If you are really unhappy, you can find a fault, be demoted to a minor official in the state or county, and then die, it is just a matter of issuing an edict.
Since these Qingliu are loyal to the emperor and the court, if the emperor wants you to die, will you die? This is their Achilles heel, and they have no responsibility today.
"The Tu tribes from various states had better find a chance to meet me." Duan Ning said again.
"You arrange it." Shao Chengjie replied directly.
Duan Ning felt happy. This was a great opportunity to earn favors, so she had to seize it well.
Originally, he was worried that the prince would hang out with warriors all day long and would not want to meet the Tu people in Guanzhong because of the trouble. For this reason, he even prepared excuses, such as Shao Siwu staying in Bo and other places and meeting many people, and talking to officials and soldiers in the Huaizuo area.
Many friendships have been made.
Now it seems that there is no need to go through so much trouble and risk. When these words reached the ears of King Xia, with his shrewdness, the Duan family was certain to die.
The snow fell again, and Duan Ning followed Shao Chengjie step by step. Although the weather was cold, his heart was hot. The prince finally began to take power, and the Duan family's future was also at stake. Wealth and honor are here to fight!