From ancient times to the present, sending troops has not been an easy task, especially sending troops outside the Great Wall, which is even more demanding.
It is now mid-August, and the grassland will face the threat of cold wave after mid-October. Therefore, the army must return by early November at the latest when leaving the fortress.
Otherwise, it would not be a matter of war, but that Emperor Zhang might have to interact with Emperor Na in time and space.
Therefore, as soon as Zhang Gao's order to prepare for battle was issued, Zhang Zhou's entire war machine began to operate at high speed, striving to prepare for the expedition as quickly as possible.
The main force of this troop dispatch was the 30,000 infantry and cavalry that Zhang Shengren planned to dispatch directly from Hexi.
This is a good thing, because after twelve years of development in Hexi Longyou, there is no shortage of talents and materials, and the top and bottom are united as one, which is very conducive to early mobilization and logistical support.
In other respects, Shuofang only sent out 5,000 cavalry, including 3,000 Khitan cavalry, and did not need much supplies.
The eight thousand cavalrymen in Hedong plus the auxiliary soldiers and civilians totaled only fifteen or six thousand people, even though Hedong had just experienced a war.
But three months ago, Yan Jin ordered Guo Congyi to defeat the last Tuyuhun forces in Shizhou and other places, and executed almost all those who refused to convert to the Six Methods Sect.
The remaining Tuyuhun Qingqi, who were in the fervent stage of converts, became the best source of auxiliary troops. They brought their own dog food for the expedition, so Hedong Province alone could fully afford these more than 10,000 people.
As for Fu Yanqing, his daughter was favored and still served in her hometown. It was not a problem at all for him to organize 5,000 Hebei elite cavalry and 10,000 Jiaodong and Zhili Yicong.
There are more than 10,000 people in total, and the imperial court does not need to allocate large-scale money and food from Tokyo. The Duzhi transfer envoy from Hebei alone can allocate support.
Only Bai Congxin on the West Road has some difficulty in supplying supplies. The 40,000 households in Basimi, Yili, Naiman, and Xijiasi are all paupers.
In the war to exterminate the Gaochang Uighurs in Beiting Province, Zhang Yan himself could not control his anger and killed too many people. He has not recovered yet and cannot afford to supply 26,000 cavalry and 50,000 to 60,000 mules and horses. burden.
There was no other choice but to send a letter to his grandfather Song Tongyi, asking him to take out his coffin copy and then persuade relatives from Zhang's grandmother's Yin family and great-grandmother's Chen family to pool some money together.
They are very rich. In the past ten years, the trade routes have been smooth. The old men from the Returned Rebel Army have made a lot of money by controlling the trade routes. Now it is time for them to pay some blood.
Bai Congxin saw that there were 26,000 people, but among them, 20,000 light cavalry from 40,000 households in Moxi were basically "gray cattle". They did not need much supplies, as long as they could supply the 6,000 that Bai Congxin brought from the Central Plains. Just fine riding.
After solving the problem of food and supplies, Zhang Gao ordered the military supervisors of Dunhuang and Zhangye each to send 500 Yi Congxiaoqi as a wandering army to go to the grasslands and bring back some small tribes who believed in the Six Methods Sect as guides.
At the same time, the Jinyi guards also began to dispatch, contact the informants on the grassland, and try to collect more detailed geographical information.
In addition, some of the Privy Council officials who followed Zhang Yan to Liangzhou also immediately received orders to send messengers to inform various military supervisors and guards commanders to be ready to send troops, because for this attack, some places must be under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council. Wei Suojun and Yi Congjian'er.
Zhang Gao also personally ordered to convey the date and destination of the army's rendezvous and dispatch to Zhe Deyi, Yan Jin, and Fu Yanqing.
After dealing with these, Zhang Yan began to deal with Murong Nobunaga's report.
Now the situation is obvious. Murong Nobunaga not only defeated the last strength of the Khitan in one battle, killed Yelu Lihu, but even took the entire wealth of the Khitan nobles into his hands.
With the property of the Khitan nobles in hand as 'hostages', the good old man is not afraid that they will not submit.
If they are not wise, Murong Nobunaga can directly pack up Jinzhou's goods and transport them back to Beiping Mansion. In this way, any nobleman you care about will be bankrupt and become a herdsman in no time.
Zhang Hao believed that Murong Nobunaga would make good use of this.
Now that they have won the war militarily and secured their property, the Khitans have no other option but to surrender.
Zhang Yan decided to immediately order Murong Nobunaga to march eastward to the entire Liao Dynasty, completely destroy the Khitan regime that should have collapsed long ago, and implement the first step of the trilogy of eastward expeditions against Japan that he and Murong Nobunaga agreed upon in Beiping Prefecture.
That is to accumulate strength in the homeland of the Andong Protectorate, attract Khitan, Xiren, and Jurchen tribes to seek refuge, hoard supplies, build siege equipment and warships, collect intelligence, and prepare for the attack on Wang's Korea.
And now Murong Nobunaga has made such a great contribution, perfectly executing Zhang Gao's strategy and holding the Khitan people at the minimum cost, preventing them from escaping back to the mountains.
It is unjustifiable not to reward such a great contribution with kings and titles.
On August 18, Zhang Zhi issued an edict in Liangzhou Prefecture, Chengtian, Xijing. Murong Nobunaga, Duke of Yan State of Jin Dynasty, was appointed as the king of Liaoyang County. He ordered him to open a mansion and appoint officials such as Chang Shi, Sima, and Shi Cao to join the army. He had the power to take photos of Khitan, Affairs of the Jurchen, Tieli, and Shiwei ministries.
At the same time, the scale of the Andong Province was expanded, and the entire province was occupied by the old site of the Andong Protectorate, and the provincial capital was moved to Liaoyang Prefecture in Tokyo, a Khitan city.
This basically means that the three northeastern provinces of later generations, Chifeng and Tongliao in eastern Mongolia, Chengde, Tangshan, Qinhuangdao and other cities in Hebei, plus the Russian Far East, were all handed over to Murong Nobunaga.
At the same time, Zhang Gao also ordered some of the Tuyuhun, Hengshan Qiang, and Ningxia Dangxiang tribes that were already under the jurisdiction of Murong Nobunaga, totaling 30,000 households and 200,000 people, to follow Murong Nobunaga eastwards.
In addition, Zhang Gao also ordered Shangshu Ling Feng Dao to select 20,000 Han Chinese households in the four provinces of Zhili, Jiaodong, Hubei, and Hebei, totaling 130,000 people. They also successively went to Liaodong to station in various places in Liaodong, becoming the backbone of the guard army.
After all the orders were issued, Zhang Yan thought about it again. Although Murong Nobunaga was an all-rounder, good at war, and very capable of governing the place, after all, he had few talents in the shogunate of Liaoyang County.
Before this, although there were many frustrated people who took refuge in Haoda'er, they were just small fish and shrimps. He had to be paired with a civil servant who oversaw government affairs.
Well, of course Murong Nobunaga's power was too great, so a civil servant had to be put in place to restrain him.
This is not because Zhang Yan has any suspicion about Murong Nobunaga. If he really had suspicion, Zhang Yan would not give him such great power.
But Zhang Yan was a little worried, worried that Murong Nobunaga would hesitate to immediately prepare to attack Wang's Korea.
Wang's Korea was a big country. According to later records, at the beginning of the 12th century, Wang's Korea had a population of about 2.3 million.
This is still on the government books, the actual population should be more, there are still almost 1560 years before the twelfth century, I think the number of common people is much smaller, but there should be 100 to 1.2 million , otherwise it would be impossible to confront the Khitan and Liao Kingdom.
If Murong Nobunaga hesitated because he was concerned about the large population of Wang's family in Korea and the lack of military force in the early establishment of the imperial court, then not only the strategy of the eastward expedition to Japan was delayed, but also Zhang Shi, who asked him to occupy Japan and then continued to send shipowners out to search for it. Strategy for the Americas.
Therefore, it is necessary to have a suitable civil servant to supervise.
However, this candidate must be suitable. He can supervise Murong Nobunaga, but he will not let the elders think that Zhang Yan is on guard against him. He should not regard himself as the emperor's confidant and interfere too much in Murong Nobunaga's administration. .
After much deliberation, Zhang Yan found the most suitable candidate, Cao Liulang Cao Yanlu, who had just returned from Qiuci.
Cao Yanlu is the eldest son of Cao Yuanzhong, Murong Nobunaga's mother Cao Sanniang Yannai is his sister, and Zhang Zhang's empress Cao Jiuniang Yanxi is his sister.
He also married Li Shengtian's eldest daughter, South Korea's eldest princess Li Zhen'er, whom Zhang Gao regarded as his sister.
It's just a perfect fit! He is the biological uncle of Murong Nobunaga, the biological uncle of Zhang Xianjing, the legitimate son of the queen, and the biological brother-in-law of Zhang Yan.
This kind of relationship not only ensures that he will love and care for Murong Nobunaga, but Murong Nobunaga will not dislike him.
At the same time, he would not help Murong Nobunaga rebel because it was not necessary.
So Zhang Yan immediately summoned Cao Yanlu, who had just returned from Qiuci and had not been free for a few days.
As the eleventh generation of the Guiyi Army Jiedushi in history and the fifth patriarch of the Cao family in Shazhou, Cao Yanlu's ability is actually not very weak.
In history, after the Guiyi Army passed through Cao Yuanzhong's pasting, it was passed into the hands of Cao Yanlu, and it was hard to recover. Cao Yanlu was unable to turn things around, so he could only continue to carry out the pasting for almost thirty years.
In the end, he could no longer hold on any longer. During the civil strife, he was forced to death by his nephew Cao Zongshou, who probably had a large amount of Shazhou Uighur ancestry.
It will definitely not work for such a person to take control of a shaky political power.
But just letting him serve as the Taiping Prime Minister of a rising dynasty is absolutely fine.
This can be seen from the life span. Cao Yanlu was already over eighty years old when he was forced to kill.
In ancient times, it was a remarkable ability for a person to live to be over eighty years old.
After Cao Yanlu was summoned by Zhang Yan, he was immediately so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth, because since he was asked to go to Liaoyang to supervise Murong Nobunaga, Zhang Yan naturally wanted to tell him the plan.
The eastward expedition against Japan was, for Zhang Yan, the basic mission of a time traveler.
For Murong Nobunaga, it was a great cause that he and his father Zhang Gao had to fight for.
But for Cao Yanlu, even the name of the Japanese country had only a vague impression of ups and downs. He really could not imagine that the ambitions of the two father and son were so great.
For a while, Cao Yanlu couldn't digest it at all, but the matter was urgent. Zhang Yan didn't give him any chance to think. He directly handed him several Tang Dynasty materials about the three Han and Japanese countries in the peninsula, and only allowed him to go home and rest for one night. Set off for Liaodong immediately.
. . . .
Liaodong, Shenzhou, later became Shenyang City, Liaoning Province. At this time, the political and military center of Khitan was not in Shenzhou, but in Liaoyang, south of Shenzhou.
It is almost late autumn, and the climate in Liaodong is at a very pleasant stage. Outside Shenzhou City, golden waves of wheat are rising and falling with the breeze.
Part of the Zuoyu Linwei under the command of Murong Nobunaga, part of the Fan Yang Army of the Gao family, and two battalions of the Forbidden Army from Andong Town that Zhang Gao allowed him to form, with a total of 10,000 infantry and cavalry, were following him.
The soldiers had already received strict orders from Murong Nobunaga, ordering them not to set foot on the wheat fields. Since Jinzhou went west, the Zhou army had not killed anyone indiscriminately or robbed a single household, showing a discipline that can be said to be unique.
But correspondingly, the Bohai farmers, Xi people, and Khitan herdsmen who came all the way still bleed profusely.
This is also necessary. Murong Nobunaga's command is the feudal army of the tenth century, not the People's Liberation Army. Even for the People's Liberation Army, there are times when it is as ruthless to its enemies as the autumn wind sweeps away fallen leaves.
Therefore, there is only one reason why Murong Nobunaga's army maintains good military discipline, and that is that everyone can see the benefits of maintaining military discipline.
All the soldiers know that after arriving in Liaoyang Mansion and completely controlling the Khitan people, those who have no money will get at least a dozen pieces of goods, and those who don’t have a wife, there will be at least one Bohai, Khitan, Xi, and Gaoli girl. Those who live in a house are naturally indispensable.
And if you violate military discipline, you won't be able to save your life even if you don't say anything about it.
As for the Tuyuhun, Dangxiang ministries and Hengshan Qiang who did the dirty and tiring work for the army, military discipline was surprisingly good.
These three tribes all believe in the Six Dharma Sect, and they have great respect for Murong Nobunaga, an authentic disciple of Buddhism.
Especially the Tuyuhun people, who are the largest in number, most of them came down from the Qingtang Plateau, which has always been the territory of the Murong family, and the Murong family has always been their king.
Especially after the death of the last Tuyuhun Khan, Murong Nobunaga's ancestor Murong Fu, the Tuyuhun people became orphans, and their status within the Tubo Empire was not even as good as that of the Ammo people.
Now, in their eyes, the Supreme Heaven is so merciful that it allowed the king of Tuyuhun to come back and lead them to live a good life, so how could they dare to disobey orders.
Murong Nobunaga was also very happy. As far as he could see, there were villages inlaid in patches of farmland. On both sides of the road, the Han people who were taken captive to Liaodong shouted excitedly. There were elderly Han people everywhere. He took a large group of people with him to make a bowl of food pulp to welcome Master Wang.
The largest number of others, who have mastered farmland farming techniques and even speak the same language as Han people, are the Bohai survivors who have been domesticated by the Khitan people and are similar to domestic dogs.
This is the scenery all the way here.
Murong Nobunaga, who was originally a little apprehensive about attacking Wang's Korea, gradually became more confident.
The land of Liaodong has become very rich after hundreds of years of development. In addition, after the destruction of Bohai, the Khitan robbed a large number of Bohai people to farm here. There is no shortage of population at all. As long as the water conservancy facilities are built, that is It’s fertile and wild.
"Grand Governor! Please drink this bowl of water!" An elderly man with gray beard and hair was supported by his grandson and stood on the roadside, holding a bowl of wine in his hand high.
Murong Nobunaga heard the call and hesitated for a moment. He happened to be thirsty too, so he simply dismounted, took the bowl of slightly sweet and sour rice wine and drank it in one gulp.
Even during the Tang Dynasty, the title "Dadudu" was rarely used, because in the Tang Dynasty, the Dadudu of Youzhou and Yangzhou were basically given posthumously.
If he is not a posthumous person, he must be a close relative of the royal family, or even the emperor's son. There is no need to call him the Grand Governor.
Zhang Yan once established the Pingzhou Andong Metropolitan Governor's Office in Pingzhou. Although it was later changed to Andong Province, Murong Nobunaga's title of Grand Governor Chijie was not canceled, so the people below used to call him the Grand Governor.
After finishing the rice wine, the old man saw Murong Nobunaga drinking heavily, and immediately asked his daughter-in-law beside him to pour another bowl from the earthenware urn at his feet.
Murong Nobunaga took it readily and drank it down in one gulp. Then he laughed three times and said, "Good wine! But my father-in-law can't pour it anymore. If you drink it again, you may not be able to reach Shenzhou City!"
At this time, father-in-law could not only refer to father-in-law, but also to refer to a virtuous elder. It was not until the early Northern Song Dynasty that it specifically referred to father-in-law.
However, at this time, it had only been about twenty years since the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty. The word "father-in-law" gradually began to be used to refer specifically to father-in-law. If a person with a high status calls an older person with a lower status as "father-in-law", it is to show closeness, just like the title of the leader in later generations. You are like a brother.
Therefore, when the father-in-law heard Murong Nobunaga calling him his father-in-law, he immediately seemed very happy, and the people of Zhuangzi around him burst into cheers.
Although Murong Nobunaga is Tang Er, who said that Tang Er will definitely treat Tang Er well when he arrives in Liaodong?
But now that they heard Murong Nobunaga's affectionate address, they finally felt confident.
"When did my father-in-law come to Shenzhou? Where is the fairyland?" Now that he had dismounted, Murong Nobunaga also asked a few questions.
Unexpectedly, a few tears fell from the old man's eyes immediately, "I don't know when I arrived.
The servant only remembers that when Aweng was alive, he often bowed to the south on the seventh day of the first lunar month, saying that his grandson was unfilial. It must be that Aweng or Aweng's father, a certain great-grandfather, was kidnapped here. As for his hometown, he seems to be from Xingtang County, Hengzhou, Hebei Province. "
All the soldiers and generals around him looked intolerable, and all the Han people behind the old man were in tears.
Murong Nobunaga couldn't help but let out a long sigh, raised his hand, and shouted to a young master riding on a white horse: "Liu Yingqi, this is your fellow villager, and I'm here to comfort my father-in-law's lovesickness."
As he spoke, Murong Nobunaga got on his horse and shouted to all the people from a high place: "You have been stranded in Liaodong for hundreds of years, and things in your hometown have changed.
Now that the great dynasty has risen, the sage ordered a certain family to regain my hometown in Hebei Province. It is better to stay in Liaodong, spread out branches here, and enjoy peace and happiness from generation to generation.
From today on, all the Han people who were captured by the bandits will be released from slavery, and the fields they cultivated will be returned to you.
If a family has less than 80 acres for men, 40 acres for healthy women, and 20 acres for the elderly and weak, the government will make up the amount.
Anyone who can speak Chinese and knows the etiquette of Xi and the people of Bohai will be reduced to twenty acres for men, and ten acres for women, children, old and weak. "
After finishing speaking, Murong Nobunaga looked at the old man who was talking excitedly to Liu Yingqi and shouted: "Anyone who bullies you and others will be punished with physical punishment. Anyone who kills someone will be punished with his life!"
As soon as this statement came out, the Han people in front of them burst into joy, and other unknown people from afar came to ask questions one after another.
At this time, a red-feathered envoy arrived in the distance escorting a middle official holding a banner.
When the soldiers and generals saw the banner coming from far and near, they dismounted and stood on both sides. Surrounded by the soldiers and generals, Murong Nobunaga also quickly found an open space to greet the lieutenant.
This group of lieutenants rushed hundreds of miles a day from Liangzhou Prefecture, and when they arrived outside Shenzhou City, this one was the only one who could hold on.
When he saw Murong Nobunaga and confirmed that it was correct, he immediately raised the bamboo slip in his hand high and shouted: "There is a will!"
"Here!" All the soldiers were led by Murong Nobunaga. Those wearing armor beat their chests with their hands, and those without armor knelt on one knee. Murong Nobunaga was wearing armor, so he bowed his head in the air.
Everyone's faces were filled with excitement, because the decree in Zhongguan's hand was written in bamboo abbreviations.
According to the regulations of the Tang Dynasty and the current Zhou Dynasty, bamboo slips, called books, were only used when establishing queens, princes, and enfeoffing kings.
"Under the door.
The emperor made Murong Nobunaga, the governor of Andong and Duke of Yan.
He was loyal and brave to the country, and he defeated the enemy wherever he went. The results were effective. He restored the great dynasty to his homeland in Hebei and expanded the sage power of Zhou Dynasty.
Regarding the country, righteousness is the same as the ruler and ministers, and kindness is the same as father and son.
He was promoted to the title of Prince of Liaoyang County, and ordered to open a mansion, take charge of the affairs of the Andong Protectorate of the great dynasty, and pacify the Khitan, Xi, Bohai, Jurchen, Shiwei and other tribes.
Set up the left and right Chang Shi and Sima, and ten Cao Cao to join the army to assist them. "
Although the official canonization of the angels had not yet arrived, as soon as the book sent in advance was read out, the whole city of Shenzhou was immediately detonated, and countless soldiers and generals cheered.
The people who had just figured out what kind of edict Murong Nobunaga had issued were too excited to contain themselves.
"King! King! King!" Someone shouted loudly, and the atmosphere suddenly reached its highest point.
Murong Nobunaga was both happy and worried. What was happy was that he knew how cautious his stepfather, who wanted to implement the policy of Xia Jun and barbarian people, was about conferring royal titles.
Originally, Murong Nobunaga thought that he would be given a royal title only after defeating the Wang family in Goryeo, but he did not expect that he would be given a title now, which shows that he was deeply trusted in his kindness.
What is uneasy is that Murong Nobunaga thought that his identity and status were sensitive enough, and now he has been granted the title of king, in his homeland that has been occupied by the Khitan for hundreds of years, and where the Murong family started.
This is too sensitive and dangerous!
Murong Nobunaga immediately thought of this. He subconsciously wanted to refuse. Now was not the time to accept the title of king.
At this moment, Wang Jing, who had been standing beside him, suddenly grabbed Murong Nobunaga's hand.
The general whom Princess Yongle personally recruited for Murong Nobunaga knew what Murong Nobunaga was going to do. He knew the world-famous Murong Baipao very well.
"Your Majesty, this is a book written by a saint. It cannot be rejected by anyone other than a human being. Moreover, your Majesty is the son of a saint and is meant to be a king!"
Wang Jing actually didn't say a word. So many people followed him, Murong Nobunaga, just for their future. If they refused, what would they do?
Murong Nobunaga also suddenly came to his senses. He immediately had his armor removed and put on his regular clothes before he came over and knelt down to receive the book.
But it's not like a minister receiving a letter from a king, but more like a son receiving a letter home praising his father.
Murong Nobunaga raised the bamboo slips high above his head and shouted loudly: "My dear Nobunaga, thank you for your love!"
Wang Jing and others had rather strange expressions on their faces, because before this, Murong Nobunaga had always addressed the emperor as "sir", but rarely used the more intimate colloquial term "yeye".
(End of chapter)
