Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Nine The Guardsman Wants to Escort the Caravan
The caravan leader was stunned for a moment. Being escorted by the Tang Army was something he never dared to think about. Even if these people did not wear armor or carry the banner of the army, they only had the weapons and equipment of the Tang Army, including the standard horizontal sword.
A team battle formation composed of strong bows, crossbows, spears and iron shields is enough to sweep away any bandits in the desert!
It's just that Li Shou wanted to escort the envoy, so he naturally wanted to earn a reward. Who knows whether he would take this opportunity to make a big deal. These Persian business travelers could make a lot of money by visiting the Tang Dynasty, but the escort team
If the cost is too high, they will lose more than they gain.
The elder asked hesitantly: "Li Shou's arrest of the envoy was not a joke, was it? We are just a private business trip, and we have used the imperial army, but we must bear the blame."
"You don't have to worry about this. I will take care of the official matters. In terms of price, you can pay according to the price of the swordsman of the private escort team. As for the strength of the escort, I will select the most elite warriors to participate in the escort."
Li Siye said these words to convince the caravan leader that he was not just talking about this.
Of course he himself has to bear a lot of risks. Once the superiors send someone down to investigate and they find that there is a shortage of people in the Congling guard, the guard will no longer work.
After the caravan leader bowed with his arms crossed devoutly, he said to Li Siye: "This matter is of great importance. Can we discuss it among ourselves?"
"Okay, feel free to discuss it."
Li Siye left the thatched hall and returned to the quiet room separated by a fan. Tian Zhen and Teng Mu were shocked by his decision and hurriedly came forward to persuade them: "Shou Zhuojie, you are mobilizing the army privately. If you let
The Protectorate knows about it, but it requires military law enforcement!"
Li Siye sat there steadily and said calmly: "Don't worry too much about this matter. Congling is guarding the remote and bitter cold. In addition to the food allocation twice a year, no superiors come down to inspect. Even if there are superiors coming down to inspect,
If there are twenty or thirty people missing, we can definitely fool him."
Tian Zhen and Fujimu were astonished. They didn't realize until today that Li Siye was so bold and capable of mobilizing troops to do private work. If he were to be made a military governor in the future, it would be unimaginable.
"Don't look at me in this way, okay? This kind of deal will be of great benefit to us, Congling Shouchu. First of all, it goes without saying that the money they have made can also buy back the armor they are missing.
Secondly, there has been no war in Congling for many years. Not only is the military discipline loose, the training is ineffective, and the combat effectiveness is uneven. Participating in such an escort not only exercises the ability to run long distances, but also tempers the will and combat effectiveness. Why not
.Third, I want to use the escort mission to stimulate them and make them consciously participate in training, thereby changing the decadent style of these people."
Tian Zhen blinked and nodded. What Li Siye said seemed to make sense, but he always felt that something was wrong.
Fujimaki interrupted and asked: "They are lazy people by nature, what if no one goes?"
Li Siye waved his hand and said with a smile: "There are no born lazy people in this world. I can guarantee you that these people will definitely go, and they will rush to go."
He patted the two of them on the shoulders, turned around and walked out of the partition, leaving them to digest and absorb where they were.
Only the leader of the caravan was left in the thatched hall, sitting on the ground wrapped in a white robe and nodding secretly, thinking that he had already made a decision.
"Elder, what do you think?"
The elder hugged his chest and said: "After our unanimous discussion, we agreed that Li Shou would send envoys to escort us. Since our caravan is small in size, you only need to send twenty people."
"Okay," Li Siye returned the greeting with his arms crossed, and said to the leader: "Please let the elders and caravan members rest in Shouchuo City. There are also wine shops in the city. Although the wine does not taste very good, it is better than nothing. Wait until I bring the soldiers who participated in the escort
We have been selected and will escort you on your journey."
The elder nodded in agreement, bid farewell to Li Siye and left.
Early the next morning, Li Siye ordered all the sergeants to gather in front of the thatched hall, including Zhang Yong and three other people who had returned the day before yesterday. These people deliberately looked lazy and were in a chaotic formation. They looked like a group of mountain hunters.
Li Siye frowned and said sternly: "Stand still!"
When the sergeants saw the guard getting angry for the first time, they did not dare to disobey or show any signs of indifference, and kept their lines obediently.
Li Siye was really angry. He thought that the caravan people were peeking in a corner, fearing that they would see the virtue of Congling Guards in catching these stragglers, and thus have the intention to refuse their escort.
He did not speak to them in an official tone, but said directly: "I want to select twenty people from among you to escort the Persian caravan to Chang'an. Those who participate in this escort will receive a reward of six thousand yuan. I don't know what you are doing."
Who wants to sign up?”
When Li Siye told the story for the first time, they were still full of suspicion and did not dare to step forward, thinking that it was a trap devised by the cunning captor.
Li Siye continued: "For those who are willing to participate, I can pay you two thousand yuan as a reward first. When you come back from the escort mission, I will give you the other four thousand yuan."
This sounds like a great thing, but everyone is a little afraid of being fooled.
This was not the case for Zhang Yong, who was standing in the crowd. When he heard the price quoted by Li Siye, he felt vaguely familiar. It seemed that it was the price quoted by the leader of the Swordsman Team, and it was even a little higher than the Swordsman Team.
Zhang Yong has been working as a catcher outside, working for the escorts and swordsmen in Anxi and the desert. He is very familiar with the market, and finally understands why Li Shou's catcher did not make things difficult for him the day before yesterday. It turns out that Li Shou's catcher actually exists.
With this in mind, I wanted to compete for business with the escort team.
But this is exactly what he wants. Anyway, as long as he can make money, who can he do it for?
Zhang Yong was the first to stand up with his hands raised, folding his arms and saying: "Li Shou has arrested the envoy. I am willing to participate in escorting the Persian caravan."
Seeing Zhang Yong coming out of the queue, the two soldiers who usually followed Zhang Yong also stepped forward and expressed their willingness to participate in the escort.
Shi Jiang and Song Heng looked at each other in astonishment, and finally understood what Li Siye meant. However, they did not expect that the guard would be so bold to innovate and break the rules.
Several chiefs were already excited. When they saw Zhang Yong and others taking the initiative to sign up, they also crossed their hands and said: "Li Shijun, we are also willing to participate in escorting the caravan!"
All the commanders were willing to participate. These soldiers, unwilling to lag behind, signed up one after another.
Seeing the enthusiasm of the soldiers, Li Siye showed a troubled look, spread his hands and said to everyone: "Only twenty people are needed for this escort. The rest will stay in Congling to guard and wait for the next business."
There is actually another business! Is Shouchuushi planning to continue the business? He is really brave.
"How should these twenty people be distributed?" Li Siye pretended to frown.
The commanders really wanted to go, but there were too many monks and too few people, so they could only put on airs. The soldiers didn't care about this, they raised their hands and shouted: "I'll go! Let me go!"
Li Siye had already made a response. He thought for a while and said: "Escorting the caravan requires soldiers with high skills and strong skills. Since you all want to participate, let's compete and select among them."
"This time to escort the caravan, we need ten cavalry, five crossbowmen, and five jumping soldiers. You will compete in horse fighting, infantry fighting, and archery skills. The losers will be eliminated, and the winners will advance until only nineteen are left.
A winner."
When Zhang Yong heard this, he felt relieved. His horizontal sword had never been neglected over the years, and his skills were even gradually improving. As for the soldiers who were waiting to die in the city, they were by no means his opponents.
The rest of the soldiers were in a worried mood. They knew their own strengths. Their training had been neglected for several years, and they didn't know if they could beat the brothers around them.