In the golden autumn of August, Liu Chengzu and Chengyun had just returned to the new city a few days ago. The three brothers were talking about getting married when a letter from Song Shouzhen came from the east. The messenger said happily: "Commander, what a good thing, we have lost sixty miles to the east!"
The four forts and three piers of the Marshal's Mansion in the Zhuanglang Valley from Yehu Fort to the mouth of the river were all lost.
Liu Chengzong just learned last month that the Sixty Mile Valley belonged to the Marshal's Mansion. Less than half a month had passed and that good land was gone.
But it is indeed good news, because although the land is gone, the grain that should be harvested is not less at all. More than 30,000 kilograms of grain have been harvested from nearly 40,000 acres of land. Song Shouzhen gathered the township soldiers from the five towns of Hehuang and the Yongdeng chieftain to surrender. Six Day and night, the grain was divided into three routes and transported all to the area under the jurisdiction of the Marshal's Mansion.
Bai Zongjing Xiaoliu, the defender of Yehu Fort, did not participate in this massive operation. He did something even bigger, which directly led to Song Shouzhen, who was entrusted by Chengyang with full authority to take charge of the Dongguan Town Army and Civil Affairs, to abandon the land and shrink the defense of Dongguan Town. Close five sharp-angled enemy towers.
Jing Xiaoliu led Zhuang Langwei's banner army, collected the fields of Zhuang Langwei's army, and transported 17,000 shi of grain and 5,400 shi of flax seeds back to Dongguan Town. He also abducted more than 200 banner households. military.
Liu Shishi smiled and said: "Who dares to squat in Zhuanglang River after doing such a great thing?"
Song Shouzhen said in the letter that this matter was actually out of control. Their original idea was to acquire two to three thousand acres of land to weaken the combat effectiveness of Zhuang Langwei's banner army.
But Jing Xiaoliu was discovered and surrounded by the Banner Army while collecting grain. In the end, the two sides reached an agreement. The Banner Army felt that it was okay for your Marshal's Mansion to collect grain, but this was the only thing that was seized from our army's farmland, and it must not be touched. .
However, we can take you to find the military fields occupied by powerful generals. We will collect them and give you 50/50 of the grain. You Jing Xiaoliu will bring the grain back to the Marshal's Mansion. We will bring the grain to Luocao and grab the grain. Everything was blamed on the marshal's house.
Jing Xiaoliu felt that he had saved his life, and he also recruited many accomplices. The two sides hit it off immediately, and the banner army continued to get involved. The scale of the situation continued to expand, and finally tens of thousands of acres of land were collected.
In fact, if Jing Xiaoliu is willing, it is not impossible to take advantage of the large number of banner troops to instigate an attack on the Acropolis.
But on the one hand, he didn't have this skill, and on the other hand, he really didn't think about it... Isn't food more comfortable than useless food? After the city is captured, it must be defended. With two thousand garrison troops, this little food will be enough to last until next summer.
He still has to farm next year after eating until summer. The city has been conquered. Isn’t it his turn to farm this land?
Jing Xiaoliu thought it would be more appropriate to transport the grain back to Dongguan.
Therefore, this was indeed good news for Liu Shishi. He immediately wrote back to Song Shouzhen and asked him to transport the grain to Nianbo, record the merits of these rural soldiers and create a book, and asked Jing Xiaoliu to come to the new city with the merit book.
However, despite being happy, Liu Chengzong did not relax his vigilance. He summoned Wang Wenxiu, who had just returned to the new city with his troops, and after discussion, he transferred his general Yang Chengzu to lead a battalion of his headquarters to assist in the defense of Dongguan.
Autumn is here.
This is a very dangerous season, especially at the mouth of the Sancha River in Dongguan where the Yellow River and Zhuanglang River meet. To the southeast is Lanzhou Wei, to the west is Marshal's Mansion Dongguan Town, and to the north is Zhuanglang Wei.
Even if nothing like this happened, it would still be a powder keg over there.
The flag army in Lanzhou was very nervous and patrolled along the river all day long. The Lanzhou general Shi Xiang sent people to find a carrier every two days. If they couldn't find a carrier, they would go to Song Shouzhen, telling them not to misunderstand, saying that the Lanzhou soldiers could not Cross the river, but don't let the soldiers from the Marshal's Mansion come to capture Lanzhou.
The Minzhuang of the Marshal's Mansion in Dongguan were also very nervous. The Minzhuang of the five towns in Hehuang were pushed to the front line. Some were guarding the five enemy towers in Dongguan at the mouth of the river. The remaining rural soldiers were gathered to Dongguan to help the townships to the west. Protect and harvest the fields.
Even the ferries on the Yellow River are closed.
After fighting two wars in a row, Liu Shizi planned to let the soldiers of the Marshal's Mansion rest this winter, spend a few months between Xincheng and Xining, and arrange the marriages of their three brothers.
The customs in Shaanxi are different from those in the grasslands, and the structure of the Marshal's Mansion is also different from the tribal alliance of feudal nobles. After some discussion, the three brothers finally decided that all eight of Lin Dan Khan's wives would belong to Liu Chengzong, while the elder brother would wait for the Oirat nobles to give away their daughters. They were sent to get married, and there were eight of them.
There are also some Mongolian nobles who support Liu Chengzong and call him Khan. He cannot take care of them, so the carrier cannot be idle. Currently, there are six of them. If the three Khans of Khalkha in the northeast learn about Khitan Khan and send envoys to pay tribute, then Just add two more to the carrier.
But before that, Liu Shizi had to marry the three ladies who were already with him.
Therefore, from this autumn to the beginning of next spring, Liu Shizi's schedule is almost full. He has to hold the imperial examination in Hehuang, establish six ministries, get married and have children.
Liu Chengzong wrote two letters to Cao Yao and Yang Dingrui of Kangning Mansion, informing them of the news that he and his brother were about to get married, and asked them to come back and asked them for their suggestions on candidates to take over the military and political affairs of Kangning Mansion.
As the stalls in the Marshal's Mansion grew larger and larger, Liu Shizi felt more and more unable to do what he wanted. This was not because of their shallow foundation, but because the sparse territory of the Marshal's Mansion was too difficult to manage.
He carefully thought about his needs and found that when he sent officials to Corning, the first thing he had to consider was not the political ability to govern the local area or the military ability to lead troops to fight, but the ability to govern... This was very outrageous.
There is a shortage of many generals and officials in the Marshal's Mansion, but when it comes to governing ability, not many people in the Marshal's Mansion have this skill.
The key thing is that it already exists. If it doesn’t exist for the time being, that would be the best, and we don’t dare to cultivate it.
No matter what, Liu Shizi must call Cao Yao and Yang Dingrui out of Kangning. The generals who are responsible for their own affairs and the feudal officials who govern the territory alone are the prerequisites for their armed group to advance into the Central Plains.
As for their successors, Liu Chengzong had a candidate in mind. Basically, the two people had completed all the difficult tasks in Kangning Mansion in the past two years. There were also routines for local affairs, and the requirements for talent were not very high.
Liu Chengzong planned to send Liu Guoneng and Liu Jiusi to replace Yang Dingrui; Huang Shengxiao took Ah Liu and Basang, two generals from Kangning Prefecture, to go back to replace Cao Yao, Luo Rucai, Li Laojiao and his uncle Cai Zhongpan.
Liu Guoneng did a pretty good job in Haixi County, and he may be close to ruling a government, but things in Kangning Mansion are easier to handle than Xining Mansion.
Sending Heavenly Monkey Liu Jiusi to Kangning Mansion as a colleague, on the one hand, he can help Liu Guoneng, and on the other hand... Liu Shishi also believes that after two years of preparation, Kangning Mansion's agriculture should be self-sufficient.
The policy implemented by the Marshal's Mansion in Kangning is not tax exemption. Kangning Mansion has been imposing taxes there, and the tax rate is quite high. Liu Chengzong originally said that he would set two taxes and one tax. In the end, Yang Dingrui combined the actual situation and suggested three taxes and one tax. This is how the tax rate was set. Got off.
However, they received Marshal Tongbao, which was cast by Kangning Prefecture itself. The government set the official price for the grain, which was purchased by each county government, and copper coins were collected based on the yield per mu.
But at the level of the Marshal's Mansion, Kangning Mansion is almost exempted from the tax.
Only 60,000 to 70,000 kilograms of gunpowder and 1,500 jars of sauerkraut are transported to Xining Prefecture every year. The year before last, about 100 auxiliary armors were transported. This year, no armors were transported because there was a war in the north and I was afraid that the armors would be robbed. Send it to the postmen at the stations along the way and let them arm themselves.
In general, the value of the goods shipped to Xining by Kangning Prefecture in two years is roughly equal to the normal tax of a large county in the Central Plains for one year.
The distance is long and the transportation cost is too high. This is something no one can do.
But now, Liu Chengzong thinks this problem has been solved.
Liu Jiusi, the heavenly monkey, presided over the establishment of the iron factory in Juerwan. Huang Shengxiao had experience in supervising the manufacture of muskets and making his own artillery. Liu Chengzong planned to let them go to Kangning Mansion to explore and repair the iron factory and expand the Kangning Ordnance Bureau.
The Xifan blacksmith in Kangning Prefecture is not bad at forging. As long as there is guidance, he is fully capable of forging blunderbuss, not to mention that the local forests and minerals are rich.
Under normal circumstances, the transportation cost of these things made Liu Chengzong feel like it was worthless. Now that there is an arms trade with Tianshan, as long as the guns are transported there, the high profits can completely make up for the travel costs.
However, although Liu Shizi decided to let Ah Liu and Basang lead the troops to replace Luo Rucai and Li Laojiao, he was still undecided on whether to let Luo and Li lead the troops back.
Liu Shizi always thought that the Sichuan Basin was a great plain, but now that Chen Min, who has the word "Heavenly King" tattooed on his face, is around him, this Bazhou student has given him a better understanding of Sichuan.
The plains of Sichuan are in Chengdu. If you enter Sichuan from the north, even if you capture Hanzhong, the six prefectures of Long'an, Baoning, Kuizhou, Shunqing and Chongqing will be covered with mountains.
If the mountains and plains in northern Shaanxi are separated by dirt roads, then the mountains in Sichuan are higher than those in northern Shaanxi and are blocked by rivers.
The difficulty of entering Sichuan is here. As long as we are stopped before entering the Chengdu Plain, with the river in front and the mountains behind, it will be a disaster if we are blocked.
In fact, Liu Chengzong knew that the closest strategic target before him was not Sichuan, but the land of Yongliang west of Guyuan.
They are Gansu, Lintao and Gongchang.
Occupying these places is already difficult for the Marshal's Mansion. It is difficult to defeat them and even harder to hold them in hand.
This means that we should either not fight and maintain the self-sufficiency that is now on the verge of danger, waiting for the world to change; if we want to fight, the war will not end after taking Yongliang.
Taking Yongzhou and Liangzhou, the most difficult days for the Marshal's Mansion are over. In Gansu, Lintao, and Gongchang, there are almost two million people and about 60,000 troops. What is the concept?
This ratio may be high, but for Liu Chengzong, it is a ratio that can dilute the degree of militarism of the Marshal's Mansion.
Hehuang has a population of 700,000, half of whom are self-sufficient in the mountains, while the rest support an army of nearly 70,000.
Taking over the west of Liupan Mountain will mean that the population composition of the Marshal's Mansion will enter the normal range. By that time, even if Liu Chengzong does not want to continue fighting, the sergeants under his command and the generals around him will watch helplessly in the Guanzhong Plain and the Sichuan Basin. , The Ningxia Hetao is so close before our eyes, why should we stop the troops?
Impossible.
Not to mention that the Chengdu Plain also has an unparalleled temptation for Liu Shizi.
The territory he occupies is as large as six or seven Sichuan provinces, but the population, grain production, production capacity, and arable land of these places combined are not comparable to that of a small Chengdu Prefecture.
Taking the Ningxia Hetao will make money, taking the Guanzhong Plain will spread the front, and taking Sichuan... he will make a fortune.
Although he knew it would be difficult, he still wanted to be prepared first. If he had the opportunity to enter Sichuan, but he didn't get in and was beaten out, it would be too uncomfortable.
Therefore, he wanted to keep the two armies of Luo and Li near Dajianlu. If there was a chance to enter Sichuan, he would use Hanzhong as the advance base on the north road to capture Long'an Mansion and Songpan Guard. He would send messengers to take the mountain road through the Jinchuan chieftain's territory. Territory, pass the news to Dajian Lu.
By then, even if Kangning Prefecture's 10,000 troops can only have three thousand headquarters marching into the plains from Yazhou, they will be able to provide a strong boost to the war.
In addition, there is another key node that has not been solved, that is, the local elite soldiers and generals in Sichuan were transferred to the Central Plains and Liaodong by the court. The officers and soldiers remaining in the basin were not a concern, but the chieftain soldiers in Sichuan were feared.
His army entered Sichuan from the north and the south. I am afraid that even the fine cavalry and heavy artillery would be difficult to cross the mountain road. Infantry battles are the chieftain's specialty. What's more, the commander's army will not have the use of artillery, but the official army still has artillery.
So Liu Chengzong still needs someone, Zhang Yuanheng.
This guy, no, this guy without a dick was sent by Liu Chengzong to Songpanwei to incite the banner army. Later, he went to Dajianlu to find Liu Chengzong but failed. His uncle Cai Zhongpan saw that he had a scholarly background, so he stayed with him to take care of the stove. The matter of Huo County Government.
Liu Chengzong asked Cao Yao to bring him back as well.
This man had only been a serious eunuch for a few days, but he had served as a flag soldier in the Songpan Guards for a long time. If Long'an Mansion was captured, it would be perfect for him to be responsible for recruiting the Songpan Guards.
Capturing Songpan Wei will not only contact the Arrow Furnace and create convenience for the north-south pincer attack, but the most important thing is that Songpan Wei has military craftsmen and the ability to forge artillery.
As long as they were stationed in Songpanwei for a month and a half, they could cast a batch of artillery and artillery shells and knock down every battlement in Chengdu.
According to the situation of Songpanwei being bullied by Baicao Qiang, Liu Chengzong estimated that if Longan Mansion was taken, Songpanwei would probably give up. Then the only problem is time.
Songpan Grassland is only accessible from May to August every year. In other words, if the Marshal's Mansion can advance the front to Liupan Mountain on the north road and occupy Hanzhong on the south road before June next year, then he can try to enter Sichuan.
That means war begins at the beginning of spring.
In the yamen of Shuai Mansion, Liu Chengzong looked at Che Cai, an old student from Shanxi, and asked: "The officials in Lanzhou are so good that they actually found you. Who asked you to come?"
Che Cai was frightened when he entered the yamen of the Marshal's Mansion. When he heard this, he felt bad. The Generalissimo suspected that he was a spy!
He was so frightened that he quickly shook his head: "Commander Mingjian, I was not found by the Lanzhou officials, but by the officials I found. Mr. Bai from Gansu happened to be in Lanzhou. He heard that I knew General Fan from the Marshal's Mansion, so he asked me to bring a few people with him. Health workers come here."
"Master Bai from Gansu, who is it?"
Che Cai's eyes widened, you don't even know who your enemy is? He said: "Master Bai Yiqingbai, the governor of Gansu."
Liu Shizi thought it was fake, why would he give up so easily?
Unexpectedly, Che Cai saluted respectfully and said: "Generalissimo, I came here to thank you for your kindness in avenging my family in the early years. Secondly, I was entrusted by Shanxi Western Confucian Gao Yizhi. There are two Western Confucian scholars who want to be with you. The commander-in-chief is using the road to go to India, please make it convenient for me, commander-in-chief."
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
Good evening!
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