Zhao She vaguely felt that the opportunity to change his destiny was now in front of him.
People like him seem to be prosperous, but they have accumulated a lot of wealth through smuggling trade on the Shanxi-Zhao border.
But in the final analysis, they are just New Year pigs raised by the government. Once they are fattened, they can be slaughtered at any time.
Now that he is working for Huan Xi, as long as the Huan family survives, who will dare to seize his family property in the future?
All you need to do is hold on to Huan Xi's thigh, and if you receive his grace and get an official position in the future, future generations will benefit immensely.
Therefore, even if Huan Xi gave him another task to ask Zhao She to memorize the mountains and landforms along the way, Zhao She would not hesitate to agree.
The next day, Zhao She hurriedly prepared the goods, but unlike usual, he would go to Guanzhong in person.
This did not arouse the suspicion of outsiders. After all, Zhao She was secretly taken to the Zhenglu General's Mansion that night, and no one knew that he had been received by Huan Xi.
Secondly, Zhao She has hoarded a large amount of goods. According to his words, he can only feel at ease by seeing them in person.
Before leaving Hanzhong, Huan Xi once again sent someone to contact Zhao She secretly and told him that even if Wang Meng refused, he should not lose etiquette or be disrespectful to Wang Meng.
In "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", the First Lord invited Wu Hou to come out of the mountain, and he only visited the thatched cottage three times before he was assisted by Wolong.
Huan Xi was very patient with Wang Meng. How could a wise man like him come and go as soon as he was summoned?
After Zhao She left, Huan Xi also temporarily put aside his desire for Wang Meng and focused on state affairs.
Unlike the previous sharing of power with Zhou Fu in Yizhou, Huanxi now integrates the military, political, financial and taxation powers of Liangzhou. In this three-acre land, Huanxi has controlled absolute power, even in To a certain extent, you don't need to pay attention to Huan Wen's attitude and you can do whatever you want.
Huan Xi was eager to flex his muscles in Liangzhou, and the first step was to carry out reforms in the army.
Political power comes from the barrel of a gun. If the army cannot be grasped, even the emperor can only be used as a puppet and allowed to be bullied by powerful ministers.
Liangzhou originally had 30,000 defenders, among whom were many soldiers who had surrendered from the Han Dynasty. Their military quality varied greatly.
After discussing with the chief historian Zhu Xu, Sima Dengxia, Huan Yi, Shen Jin and other confidants, Huan Xi decided to divide the army into two parts.
One of them is called Zhan Bing.
The soldiers were not engaged in production, and the government provided food, clothing, and military pay to solve their worries.
The military salary quota was based on the standards of the later Tang Dynasty border guards. Seven pieces of spring and winter clothing, 12 pieces of silk, and 12 stones of chestnuts were given annually.
The size of the fighting force was temporarily set at 10,000, including the 5,000 soldiers Huan Xi brought from Jiangling.
Huan Xi now controls Liangzhou's finances and taxes, and he has the confidence to support these 10,000 soldiers.
In addition to the war soldiers, there are state and county soldiers.
The state and county soldiers were not so much soldiers as rural warriors. They were half peasants and half soldiers. They were only occasionally summoned to conduct simple city defense drills during leisure periods, so they did not undertake offensive tasks.
Of course, the government will only take care of the food when they are summoned, which greatly reduces financial expenses.
As the saying goes, good steel is used on the blade. Huan Xi is equivalent to concentrating resources to support the soldiers, while the state and county soldiers are only used to defend the city.
As for the thousand steps Shen Jin raised, they were not among the two.
As soon as the news was released, the garrison troops in various counties were eager to recruit soldiers.
Before the Tang Dynasty, there was no concept of being paid as a soldier. Only officers had salaries, and ordinary sergeants could only get a mouthful of food and clothing.
Now Huan Xi showed mercy and provided military pay for the soldiers, which immediately aroused the enthusiasm of the soldiers and signed up enthusiastically.
In the following more than a month, Huan Xi traveled through the eight counties of Liangzhou, selected strong men from the garrison from various places, and got a total of 5,000 warriors who dared to fight, and settled their families in Hanzhong County, where they lived with him. The five thousand soldiers brought by Jiangling served as soldiers to guard the headquarters.
This move will also make it easier for him to recruit soldiers to fight.
If there is a rebellion or enemy invasion, Huan Xi can summon soldiers to accompany him on the expedition in the shortest possible time.
These 10,000 soldiers will be his main battle force in the Northern Expedition to Guanzhong.
Those who were not selected were all used as state and county soldiers to defend the city.
After Huan Xi gathered his soldiers in Hanzhong, he went in and out of the military camp every day to observe their drills and comfort the soldiers.
Although he couldn't do the scene where Wu Qi sucked the soldiers' pus, he was willing to put down his body and get close to the soldiers.
Huan Xi often gave him food and wine and had fun with the soldiers. Therefore, he quickly won the hearts of the soldiers and gained their loyalty.
After taking complete control of the army, 10,000 soldiers gathered around Hanzhong as a deterrent. Huan Xi could implement reforms in Liangzhou according to his own wishes without worrying about strong opposition.
While Huan Xi was selecting soldiers and recruiting soldiers, Zhao She finally led the caravan to the vicinity of Huashan by bribing the checkpoint guards.
Huashan Mountain is one of the Five Mountains. Since ancient times, it has often been a secluded place for celebrities.
Wang Meng's ancestral home is Beihai County, Qingzhou. He was born into a poor family and made a living selling dustpans when he became an adult.
He traveled a lot, observed the situation in the chaos of war, and became self-taught.
After completing his studies, he once traveled to Yecheng, but because of his life experience, he was underestimated by the powerful. Only Xu Tong, the servant, had the wisdom to recognize people and conquered Wang Meng as a meritorious official.
However, Wang Meng refused to take office and lived in seclusion in Huashan since then.
Because he refused Xu Tong's conquest, Wang Meng accumulated a little reputation, so Zhao She easily found out where Wang Meng lived in Huashan.
Zhao She came to a thatched cottage with generous gifts. He arranged his clothes and knocked on the door.
"Who's visiting?"
a woman shouted through the wooden door.
Zhao She said loudly:
"Zhao She from Baishui was passing through Guibao Land. Hearing the name of the prince, he came here to see him."
"Please wait a moment, I'll ask your husband."
The woman turned and left. After a long time, Zhao She heard the footsteps again.
"My husband doesn't see outsiders. Please forgive me, Mr. Zhao."
As he spoke, the woman walked away again, and Zhao She quickly stopped her:
"Madam, stop here. To tell the truth, I was entrusted by someone to come to pay homage to the prince."
The woman asked:
"May I ask who your distinguished guest is entrusted by?"
Zhao She hesitated for a long time, gritted his teeth, approached the wooden door, and lowered his voice:
"I would also like to ask Madam to inform me that I have been ordered by the governor of Liangzhou Huan to sincerely invite the prince to come out to assist me. I am prepared with a small gift and would like to invite the prince to see me."
This time, the woman left for a much longer time, but when she came back, she still refused to let Zhao She in.
"My husband has something to say, and he also asked Mr. Zhao to tell Governor Huan that he was originally a wandering wild crane and did not want to be disturbed, so he lived in seclusion in Huashan.
"My husband appreciates Governor Huan's good intentions, but he claims that he has little talent and knowledge and is not qualified for the important task. I'm afraid he will disappoint Governor Huan."
Zhao She was rejected. Seeing that Wang Meng refused to come out or even show up, Huan Xi told him not to be rude. Zhao She was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot and couldn't think of a solution.
