Jinzhou is the largest state in the southeastern part of Henan Province. It is located on an important transportation road and was very prosperous in previous years. The Jin army invaded south and plundered a large number of people from the west of Beijing. Those who did not have time to move north were mostly in Jinzhou and Longde Prefecture. Wang Xiaolie moved north quickly, and most of these people were brought under his rule. At this time, Jinzhou was much more prosperous than the state army on Jingxi Road.
On June 13, Wang Xiaolie held a banquet at Changqing Tower in the city to entertain Li Songchen, Liang Qing and other leaders of the Hedong Rebel Army.
There is a small courtyard behind Changqing Tower with sparse flowers and trees and chirping cicadas. In the pavilion beside the lotus pond in the courtyard, a table was set up with wine and food on it.
Jiang Min, Li Songchen, Li Shi, Liang Xing and Zhao Yun came in and saw Wang Xiaolie standing by the pavilion, and hurriedly came forward to greet him.
Wang Xiaolie said: "I know your names like thunder. When I saw you today, you are indeed a heroic and promising young man! I have prepared a small banquet here today. Come, hurry up and sit down."
Li Songchen and Liang Xing hurriedly said they didn't dare. Following Jiang Min, he sat down at the banquet.
Wang Xiaolie said: "Hedong Road has produced famous wine since ancient times. However, since the Jin invaded, most restaurants have stopped brewing. What I drink today is the aged liquor from our army. I am not a good drinker, so just enjoy it. Do not bother me."
Both Li Songchen and Liang Xing had fought behind enemy lines for many years and were used to hard times. They heard that the wine Wang Xiaolie brought was like a royal wine in their hearts. After listening to Wang Xiaolie's talk, my mouth was full of excitement and I couldn't wait any longer.
The soldiers poured wine and Wang Xiaolie ordered a bowl.
Liang Xing took a big gulp, thought about it for a while, and hurriedly put down the bowl and said: "Ah, this wine is so strong! I have never drunk such a strong wine in my life!"
Jiang Min said: "Xuan Fu said, this is strong wine, how can you drink it like other wines? One bottle of such strong wine is worth ten bottles of other wines, don't dare to underestimate it."
Wang Xiaolie said: "When I came to Jinzhou this time, I followed the Yellow River all the way. After passing so many states and counties, the cooks in our army learned two dishes. One is braised carp, and the other is spicy and sour fish soup. You guys have a try. .”
After three rounds of drinking, Li Songchen and Liang Xing became more drunk and gradually became less restrained.
Wang Xiaolie said: "Jiang Min went to Shenshan County last year and spent a lot of effort. This year he finally achieved a big victory. The most important thing about this big victory is that it trained a team. According to the current situation, Xuanfu Division It was decided to make Jiang Min the capital, and Li Songchen and Liang Xing to be the lieutenants, and establish an army in Hedong. The soldiers of this army were mainly recruited in Hedong, and cooperated with some Shaanxi soldiers. Since the founding of the country, Hedong, like Shaanxi, is It is an important source of troops for the imperial court. In recent years, the gold thieves have invaded the south, and they have not recruited troops from the east of the river for many years. It should not be difficult to raise 30,000 troops."
Li Songchen said: "There are few people in the nearby states. If we add Fenzhou and Taiyuan Prefecture, it will be easy."
Wang Xiaolie said: "We have risen too fast and have a weak foundation. If we attack Taiyuan now, there will be many difficulties. In the past two years, the main thing in Hedong is to defend and prevent the Jin army from going south from Taiyuan. When the foundation is strong, we will move forward Prosperity, and then find a way to move north."
Liang Xingdao: "I have fought with the Jin people for many years, and I haven't found anything special about them. If we have enough troops, it will not be difficult to defeat the Jin army!"
Wang Xiaolie smiled and said: "Brother, that's not how we look at combat effectiveness. An army of two or three thousand people is completely different from two or three thousand people. It can lead two to three thousand people, and a maximum of three or four people out of ten can lead two or three people." Thousands of people. Most of the Jin armies you faced before were only one to two thousand people. From now on, it will no longer be like this."
Liang Xing thought for a while. Said: "That's what Xuanfu said. In Shenshan County, there are only three thousand Yuying, and its scale is different. If it weren't for Jiang Zhaofu's command, there would really be nothing he could do for a while. Legend has it that if the Jurchens don't have more than ten thousand, they can't have more than ten thousand. The enemy is not all lies."
Wang Xiaolie said: "Ten thousand Jurchen soldiers, if we add Ali Xi and the army that transports food and grass for them, there will be nearly 50,000 people, which can be taken seriously. How can we take it lightly? The entire Jurchen army is It is about between 150,000 and 200,000, which is not much, but it is really a lot. With more than 100,000 soldiers, Yizu can use it to wipe out all the countries in the south of the Yangtze River and pacify Shu. The Jurchens today may not be as good as Li Guo The Imperial Army at that time was much different."
Liang Xing and Li Songchen nodded, knowing that what Wang Xiaolie said made sense.
Wanyan Yuying's real name is Talan, the same name as Wanyanchang who had just been promoted to the right deputy marshal of the Jin Army. Most people who are familiar with Jin Jun will call him Yuying to avoid confusion.
The Jurchens are absolutely invincible. I am not talking about 10,000 Jurchens, but a Jurchen army of 10,000 people. A Jurchen army of 10,000 can never be only 10,000. Including their auxiliary army Ali Xi, there were 20,000 to 30,000 people. Including other slaves and maids, the number is likely to exceed 50,000.
Most of the time, Alixi was also a Jurchen. When the war is tense, Alixi will also fight. Therefore, the number calculation of the Jin army is different from that of the Song army. The Jurchen army of 10,000 is equivalent to the Song army of 30,000 to 40,000, which is common.
Li Songchen said: "When I arrived in Jinzhou these days, I saw that Xuanfu's army was very different from other armies. We are villagers, and we only know a few big words. I'm afraid it will not be easy to stay in Xuanfu's army. "
Wang Xiaolie said: "It doesn't matter. The soldiers have a new barracks and will be retrained. The officers have a military academy. After a few days of study, everything will be fine."
Li Songchen said: "To be honest with Xuanfu, I didn't even go to school. Later, when I became a county lieutenant, I only knew a few words with the officials. Even if I entered the military academy, how could I understand the books? I don't think Cao Du commanded the army. "The general can't read, but he can't do anything."
Wang Xiaolie said: "There are actually many generals like you. We have seen many of them in military academies, and they have their own methods. Generally speaking, if you don't know much about literacy, the military academies will have short-term literacy classes. One or two months, big Most people can read one or two thousand words. Don’t worry about this.”
Li Songchen looked at Li Shi with an expression of disbelief.
Lingshi County is located between Jinzhou and Fenzhou, not far from Lengquan Pass and located in the mountains. Compared with Liang Xing in Zezhou, the conditions were more difficult. When Li Songchen had the largest number of people, there were more than 2,000 people. There are more than 2,000 people, but few are literate. These literate people are all rural scholars. Not to mention the classics of sages, poems and lyrics, even the official documents to the court are full of typos.
In Jinzhou these days, Li Songchen couldn't help but be surprised to see the frequent exchange of official documents among Cao Zhiyan's army and the absence of officials. With the literacy level of myself and my generals, how could I lead troops in war if I couldn't even handle daily official documents?
After living for decades, Li Songchen felt that he was very powerful if he could roughly understand official documents. If he could read and write like the generals in Cao Zhiyan's army, Li Songchen felt that he would never be able to do it in his lifetime.
This is a very real problem. The Jin army invaded south, and most of the scholars fled south. In addition, compared with the Xiangyang area, Hedong is barren and the people are poor, and their cultural level is somewhat lower. The soldiers here are obviously much less literate than those in the south.
Unlike the Forbidden Army, Wang Xiao's hunting army cannot be an officer if he is illiterate. Many rebel generals are worried about their future.
Liang Xing is better off. Most of his men come from plains and hilly areas and have a relatively high level of education. Most of Li Songchen's men were farmers in mountainous areas, and few of them were literate, so it was impossible to find another way.
(End of chapter)
