Shi Donglai chuckled and said, "No matter what the governor orders, as long as I can do it, I will do my best to help!"
Guo Song nodded, "I have nearly 6,000 Shatuo Army prisoners of war in my hands. I want to exchange Tang Army prisoners of war with the other party. However, we have no contact with the Shatuo people. I would like to ask Master Shi Dong to be a middleman."
Shi Donglai thought for a while and said: "No problem, I can carry the message for the governor. If the governor agrees, I can use flying pigeons to send the message now. I have a branch in Yiwu County, and my third son is currently there.
There!"
Guo Song was overjoyed and said with a smile: "Absolutely! Master Shi Dong, please inform Yu County Cheng as soon as possible. If you have any news, please inform Yu County Cheng at any time. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Master Shi Dong for his help."
Guo Song said goodbye and left, and Shi Donglai kept escorting Guo Song and his party out of the door.
The eldest son Shi Huan said worriedly: "Didn't my father always say that he would not do anything for the government? Why did he obey this Guo Song?"
Shi Donglai said calmly: "You have to consider what I said about not working for the government. Zhao Tengjiao is mediocre and Wang Lien is vicious. I really don't want to work for them, but this Guo Song is different. I can't ask for anything more than working for him."
"Father seems to be very optimistic about this Guo Song."
"How can you not be optimistic? He killed thirty thousand Shatuo and wiped out the whole army. If I guessed correctly, he will soon march to Jiuquan. There are few famous generals in the Tang Dynasty who are so good at fighting and courageous. The key is this talent.
At the age of sixteen, the future is limitless. Such a promising talent is worthy of our investment. Working for him is only our first step. We will seize more opportunities in the future. You must remember my words. If you can make Ash
.Anyone who is willing to be a servant of Darhan is definitely not a thing in the pool."
In the camp outside the city, generals such as General Lang and above gathered together. Guo Song hung up a huge map of the Hexi Corridor and said to everyone: "I won't leave you with any suspense. My next goal is to capture Su."
Zhou, this is an action with the permission of the emperor. You don’t have to worry about the attitude of the court. The problem now is that we have insufficient troops. Some people may say, we have 17,000 people, why are we still insufficient in troops? Let me tell you, Sha
Tuo is the evil tiger blocking our way to regaining the Hexi Corridor, but there is also a poisonous snake hidden behind us."
Guo Song pointed at Dadou Bago on the map with a wooden stick, "This poisonous snake is Tubo. Will it take advantage of our army's march north to attack Ganzhou from Dadou Bago? The answer is that it is entirely possible. In the past, Dadou Bago
The valley is in the hands of the Tuyuhun people. Now that the Tuyuhun people have been completely surrendered by the Tubo people, this more than fifty miles long valley road has fallen into the hands of the Tubo people. Therefore, we must make two preparations. One is to exit at the north side of the Dadou Valley.
Heap heavy troops in strategic locations, and the garrison of Zhangye City must be at least 10,000.
Adding the two items together, our remaining strength is 13,000 troops. We actually only have 4,000 available troops. So yesterday I flew an eagle to send a message to Chang'an, begging the emperor to temporarily allocate 10,000 troops from Liangzhou. It is estimated that two
There will be news in three days. This is on the one hand. On the other hand, I want to use the prisoners of the Shatuo Army in my hands to exchange the prisoners of the Tang Army in the hands of the Shatuo people. There are about four thousand people. This will also be one of ours.
Source of force."
Everyone suddenly realized that the reason why the Governor insisted on taking in prisoners of war against all opinions was to exchange prisoners of war with the Shatuo army. An Rengui asked: "Excuse me, Governor, we still have prisoners of war in the hands of the Shatuo people. Is this news reliable?"
"Should be reliable!"
Guo Song smiled slightly and said: "I have inquired from many channels. Not all the previous seven thousand brothers were killed, at least most of them were captured. The Shatuo people are also in urgent need of young and strong men to mine mines for them. They are not like
In the past, the enemy troops were driven out and killed, but instead they were captured and used as slaves."
"Excuse me, Commander-in-Chief, should we wait for reinforcements to arrive before attacking Jiuquan? Will we lose the chance of fighting?" This time it was Liang Wu who asked the question. He was a little impatient and wanted to send troops to Jiuquan now.
Guo Song still shook his head, "Jiuquan must be captured as soon as possible without delay. Even if the Tubo people want to sneak attack Ganzhou, it will not be a matter of time. It will take at least some time. I just said that we need to prepare for a rainy day."
At this time, Yao Jin raised his hand and said: "Captain, I have a suggestion. You can first send 3,000 people to stockpile at the dangerous exit of Dadou Bagou. Then, 5,000 people will be left in Zhangye City and 1,000 troops will be left in Qilian garrison. Then we will send out troops."
Eight thousand troops went north to Suzhou to capture Jiuquan, and reinforcements from Liangzhou should also arrive by then."
Guo Song pondered for a moment, nodded and asked, "Okay, I wonder which of you would be willing to lead the troops to guard the Great Dou Valley?"
Yao Jin raised his hand, "Since the plan was proposed by Beizhi, Beizhi is willing to lead the army to guard the battle against the valley!"
This is also in line with Guo Song's intention. Yao Jin is bold and careful, and can take charge of his own affairs. Entrusting him to him can make him feel at ease.
Guo Song immediately made arrangements, ordering Liang Wu to lead 5,000 people to guard Zhangye City, Yao Jin to lead 3,000 people to guard Dadou Bugu, and himself to lead 8,000 people to Jiuquan.
After the discussion, everyone dispersed. Guo Song stopped Yao Jin, and Guo Song pondered for a moment and said to him: "Before we set off to Ganzhou, the Tubo envoy arrived in Chang'an and proposed to send troops to help us seize the Hexi Corridor.
, but it was rejected by the emperor. I think the Tibetan army would never be willing to accept it. I guess they have already assembled their troops at the other end of Dadou Bagou.
Whether Tubo wants to send troops to capture Ganzhou or to capture Shazhou, I can't tell yet, but if Ganzhou has an opportunity, they will definitely not let it go, so you are not doing it to defend the valley this time.
Look, you must be more vigilant, take better precautions, and beware of enemy sneak attacks!"
Yao Jin clasped his fists and said: "Please rest assured, Commander, I will never let the Tibetan soldiers step out of the big fight with me in my humble position!"
Early the next morning, Guo Song led eight thousand cavalry and set off north. It was about four hundred miles from Zhangye to Jiuquan, and it would take three days for the army to arrive.
At the same time, the Ganzhou Army defeated the Shatuo Army in Zhangye, and the news that the 30,000 Shatuo Army was destroyed also reached Chang'an. The Chang'an court and the public were filled with joy. This was another exciting event after the great victory at Fengzhou.
The news of victory really made the people of Chang'an and the officials of the imperial court rejoice.
Emperor Li Shi was so happy that he could not close his mouth. This was the first war since he came to the throne, and he started with a great victory. This was a good momentum.
Li Shi was so excited that he got drunk that night. Early the next morning, Li Shi formally issued an order to commend the officers and soldiers of the Ganzhou Army. All the soldiers who were killed or disabled in battle were given double pensions. At the same time, he issued an order to confer the title of Duke of Xia to his lord Guo Song, and also granted him the title of Duke of Xia.
Doctor Jin Ziguanglu was rewarded with 10,000 taels of gold, and all other generals were promoted to one rank. At the same time, the three armies were rewarded with 500,000 guan of money and 300,000 pieces of silk.
In the imperial study, Li Shi summoned the Prime Minister Li Mi. Li Shi pondered for a moment and asked, "Is it because the political affairs hall has some complaints about my reward?"
"Your Majesty must have realized it too! There is no doubt that soldiers should be rewarded for their meritorious service. No one has any objection to the promotion of officers and titles. No one objects to Guo Song being granted the title of Duke. But if the imperial court comes up with so much money and silk at once, everyone has no objection.
I have some opinions. Your Majesty should know that the financial resources of the imperial court are tight now. The salt tax from Jianghuai and the money and grain from Bashu have not been shipped. If Yang Xiangguo had not levied the wine tax, the imperial court would really be a little unsustainable."
Li Shi sighed and said, "I also know that the imperial court is in trouble, but promotions and promotions are only limited to generals. For ordinary soldiers, if there are no rewards, it is really unjustifiable."
"Your Majesty, Wei Chen remembers that when Guo Song was in Fengzhou, he used land to reward military merits. Wei Chen thinks this method is very good. There are a large number of official fields in every state and county. These official fields can indeed be used to reward military achievements and provide compensation.
It can greatly reduce the financial burden on the court."
"But I have issued an edict, do you want me to break my word?"
"Your Majesty, it can actually be converted into five guans of money or five bolts of silk per acre of land, and then your majesty will increase it a little bit to ensure that each soldier can be rewarded with ten acres of land, and the land will be given to their families. Wei Chen feels that this is better than simply rewarding money.
Silk is much more meaningful.”
Li Shi thought for a moment and finally nodded, "Xiang Guo's words make sense. Let's study it in the Political Affairs Hall and make a decision if it's feasible!"
Li Mi suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, he could finally go back to report to the Political Affairs Hall.
"Your Majesty, the next step is to attack Jiuquan."
Before Li Mi could finish his words, Li Shicheng immediately concluded: "I have agreed to attack Jiuquan a long time ago. There is no room for objection and I will never give in."
"Your Majesty, in fact, the minister also agrees to attack Jiuquan. This is indeed a good opportunity. However, if the whole body is moved at once, Suzhou will be captured. The next step will be Guazhou and Shazhou. If they are successfully captured, then we can hold them in the future.
It will also consume a lot of financial, material and manpower. Can the court afford it? In addition, Tibet will not stand idly by and Uighur will not sit idly by. How will we respond? I think we should consider these carefully and not just for a short time.
, please give your Majesty a clear warning!”
Li Shi pondered for a moment and said: "Let's do this! Let's take Jiuquan first, and then decide whether to continue north to Guazhou and take a look at the situation."
After a pause, Li Shi added: "I have agreed to mobilize 10,000 Liangzhou troops to support Zhangye."