Emperor Sui Yang

Chapter 710 Barbarians
The south bank of the Yangtze River in Jingzhou is a place very rich in food, but there is a big difference from the north bank, and that is barbarians.

The north bank is Hubei, and the south bank is Hunan. This is the main gathering place for Hunan barbarians.

Xiao Mian definitely wants to occupy these counties on the south bank, but it will not be easy because most of his rebels are a mob, and their combat effectiveness is not much better than that of the barbarians.

The north bank contributes [-]% of the tax revenue in the Jingzhou area, while the south bank occupies [-]% of Jingzhou's area and contributes [-]% of the tax revenue. This is already very illustrative.

When Yang Ming was in charge of Jingzhou, he didn't even dare to go to Nan'an. The place was vast and sparsely populated. The distance between one county and one county was only one or two hundred miles. Only the county seat was within the control of the court. Outside the county seat, the court would not be able to do well. Take care.

Xiao Mian's conquest of the south bank must be fought against the barbarians, because the barbarians have food. There is not much food around the county, and the imperial court has already collected the annual food.

There were several major tribes of barbarians distributed on the south bank. The imperial court named them according to their main settlement areas: Lingling barbarians, Changsha barbarians, Wuling barbarians, Xiangzhou barbarians, Lingling barbarians, Hengyang barbarians, etc., that is, Tujia and Miao people. , Yao, Dong and other ethnic minorities.

We are still in a semi-civilized stage. It is impossible for you to talk to them, let alone want their food.

The amount of grain they collected was quite terrifying, but the imperial court had never thought of them because the barbarians accounted for six-tenths of the population on the south bank of Jingzhou.

If you dare to mess with others, they will dare to rob the county seat. Therefore, local officials in the south of Jingzhou have always needed to have a good relationship with the barbarians. This means that everyone can live in peace and live their own lives. You don't rob me, and I won't rob you either. Your idea.

Even so, barbarian robberies have always happened. As long as they have no food, they will come out to rob.

However, in recent years, the government has become poor, but the barbarians have become rich, and their grain cellars are full of food.

Xiao Mian himself took charge of Jiangxia and changed Jiangxia to the Governor's Palace. Shen Faxing took charge of Wuchang and continued to think of ways to build ships. The remaining generals sent a total of more than ten generals to the west and south to attack the area south of Dongting Lake.

"We left in time. Laihu'er has defeated Du Fuwei and taken back Danyang and Liyang. Xu Wanche and Wan Zan have been doing well as the court's dog-legs," said Military Advisor Shen Shuyi in Jiangxia. The city governor's office said.

The Shen family actually did well in the court because of Shen Wuhua. Shen Shuyi's eldest brother Shen Zunli served as the chief minister of Taichang Temple, the head of the eleven temples.

You say how loyal Shen Shuyi is to Xiao Mian. Actually, you can't say for sure. He had no choice. He was awarded the title of General Ying Yang and followed him to protect his son and fight against the Turks. He was originally doing some meritorious service, but he turned into a rebel.

When Xiao Mian rebelled, if he had not bowed his head and joined Xiao Mian, he would have been killed long ago.

As for Xiao Mian, he took a fancy to the other family's influence in Jiangnan, so he became a military advisor and was nominally the second-in-command of the rebels. He tied Shen Shuyi tightly to his car.

If Yang Ming came to recruit this person, he would be sure to make every move, but unfortunately, without freedom, Xiao Mian would not let him leave his side.

General Zhang Zhenzhou of the left said: "There is Zhou Faming in Changsha County. This person knows soldiers. We are now urgently trying to build up our power and regain morale. Killing this person will help inspire the soldiers."

Why do they have no morale?Because they came from the south of the Yangtze River and were hiding to protect their children. In addition, the Xiangyang Navy sailed past the Yangtze River very arrogantly under their noses. This was very shocking.

I watched them yell at me on the boat, but I couldn't do anything.

Who is Zhou Faming?You can tell by his name that he is the third brother of Zhou Fashang and the prefect of Changsha.

General Gongsun Shangzhe said: "Changsha County has Guo Hua, Yang Daosheng, and Chen Puhuan's three armies totaling 2 people. It is more than enough to deal with Zhou Faming, but our main goal is food. Changsha County has four counties, Changsha, Hengshan, Yiyang and Shaoyang, last year's taxes must have been paid. We spent a lot of time attacking the city, which is not appropriate. We should replenish food and grass before making plans."

Both of their suggestions were right. One was to eat enough first, and the other was to gather military morale. There was no problem in either case.

But there is a question, which one to fight first?

If you beat Changsha Barbarian first, Zhou Faming will probably try to trick you in the back, but if you beat Zhou Faming first, Barbarian will sit idly by and ignore you.

So Xiao Xian said categorically: "Take the county first. Even if there is no food in the warehouse, those merchants will always have it. Don't rob the civilians. I want to operate in Jingzhou for a long time this time. I must not lose the people's support. Take After we go to the county town, we must focus on appeasement, and we must not imitate the style of bandits like Du Fuwei."

General Lei Shimeng said: "If Du Fuwei is destroyed, it will be very disadvantageous for us. We need time to establish a foothold in Jingzhou. My subordinates believe that we should send troops to support Du Fuwei."

"It makes sense," Xiao Lang said: "If Du Fuwei dies, the remaining rebel army in Jiangnan will be a piece of loose sand and can easily be wiped out by the court. We can't let Du Fuwei die. Now is a good opportunity to form an alliance. My subordinates are willing to send envoys , contributed to this.”

"You don't want to go," Xiao Mian said, "Let Mr. Xu Deji and Xu go."

Your surname is Xiao. I'm afraid that if you go to Jiangnan, you won't come back.

Xiao Lang nodded, cursing in his heart. He was also coerced. Like Shen Shuyi, he was disobedient and would have died long ago. With his background, if he surrendered to the court, he would probably be fine. After all, the rebels in Xiao Xian Among them, there is no real power and no reputation.

Accessories can be given a lighter sentence.

Since Hebei was pacified by the prince, Xiao Mian's army has become unstable. They came down from Hebei. Don't they still know how fierce the rebels in Hebei are?

But now, they are all dead.

Xiao Mian ran away from Jiangnan so quickly because he was afraid that the prince would go south to Jiangdu. Fortunately, it was Yang Jian who was in charge of Jiangnan, which gave them a chance to escape.But many people have already developed alien intentions. Xiao Mian knew this very well and had taken precautions for it.

If I don’t give you rights and don’t let you go out, what else can you do?
After the Xiangyang navy entered Jingzhou, it entered the sea. In addition to the five-tooth fleet left to protect the children, seven more came to Jingzhou.

These fleets would take turns returning to their home base of Xiangyang Wharf to resupply and rest, and then wander on the Yangtze River every day, tightly controlling the Yangtze River.

"Wuchang is actually building ships? The idea is good, but it's a bit ridiculous." After Zhou Zhongmo got off the ship, he discussed the military situation with everyone in Hanyang City.

Yang Xuanzhang stroked his beard and said: "So we don't let Zhong Mou attack now. When their shipbuilding business is somewhat visible, the navy can defeat them in one fell swoop. This would be heartbreaking."

"It's not that easy, right?" Da Xihao frowned and said: "In the old days, Wuchang Wharf was the navy wharf in Jiangxia area second only to Xiangyang. Its function was to defend Jiangxia. Although it was destroyed, there should be many local people who knew the shipbuilding technology. , and now there is a heavy accumulation of troops, which is not so easy to fight."

Jiangxia Wharf is a very large-scale trading wharf. It is not for military use. Let alone the fact that it cannot accommodate military use. It has always been an important place in ancient times. Defenses were deployed around it instead of directly at the door.

For example, in Jiangdu, the military dock is in Jiangyang County and the trading dock is in Shanyang County.

Zhou Zhongmo smiled and said: "It's not difficult. In the Yangtze River Basin, the Old Chen fleet had more than [-] ships, but they still lost to Yue Gong's seventeen five-tooth warships. Now we have seven ships in Jingzhou, but there is no Old Chen fleet. The boats at Wuchang Pier, for me, I can take whatever I want."

Of the seventeen five-ya ships built by Yang Su, seven were destroyed by the Chen Dynasty, leaving ten ships, three in Badong County, two in Xiangyang County, and five in Jiangdu County.

Those three in Badong didn't get any funding from the court, which was terrible. The five boats in Jiangdu were changed into Yang Guang's cruise ships. Xiangyang built five boats in recent years with Yang Ming's strong support, plus Yang Jun The privately kept one, there are eight in total.

Seventeen ships can hit the entire south, but seven ships can't hit Wuchang?

Years are like smoke, and things are unpredictable. When the Sui Dynasty defeated Chen Dynasty, Yang Su was the commander-in-chief of the Sui navy, and the commander-in-chief of the navy of the Chen Dynasty was Zhou Zhongmo's father, Zhou Luohu.

Now Xuan Jiao and Zhou Zhongmo were sitting together and became a group.

General Yang Xuan said proudly: "The five-toothed ship is invincible in the river. With the navy here, Xiao Mian can't even think of crossing the Yangtze River. Of course, we can get there, but if we get there, we're afraid we won't be able to come back."

Everyone laughed.

Now in Jingzhou, Yang Xuanzhang is the general manager of the army. Everyone in his family serves the prince, and there is no question of loyalty.

In history, Yang Laosi was also killed after following Xuangan's rebellion, but his son Yang Tai survived and was the only surviving male descendant of the Yang Su family.

Later, Yang Tai's sister Yang entered Li Shimin's harem and was named a noble concubine. She gave birth to Li Shimin's thirteenth son, King Zhao Li Fu. Li Fu was adopted to the deceased Li Jiancheng as his heir.

"Rong Guo Gong's attack was really smooth. Eight counties came back just like that," Murong Sanzang said, "If Jiangnan is defeated by him, the prince will probably be unhappy, right?"

Dugu Lingyun raised his eyebrows and said, "Don't talk nonsense, why would the prince be unhappy?"

His rank is far from that of Murong Sanzang, but his words are old-fashioned, because those sitting here only talk about his close relationship with the prince, regardless of his rank.

This is the great thing about Qianniu Preparation, the leader's guard.

Pang Tao smiled and said: "If Rong Gong wants to continue fighting, first of all, King Qi will not agree. The military supplies are in the hands of King Qi. If the military supplies are cut off, it will be impossible for Rong Gong to continue, and King Qi will definitely do this." "

Yang Xuanzhang looked at Pang Tao and said, "Is your wife from the Shen family in Jiangling?"

"Huh? Yes," Pang Tao said, "Zhong Mu's two sons also married girls from the Shen family."

Yang Xuanjiang curled his lips: "Then you go say hello and ask for money."

Pang Tao was stunned: "I said Mr. Qinghe, Mrs. Shen, who is the master of the Shen family, is very polite when she goes to the East Palace. Who am I? How can I say this to others?"

Murong Sanzang looked at Xuanjiang, nodded and said, "You still have to send your confidants personally. You are the manager. It would be inappropriate for us to come forward. It would seem to look down on the Shen family."

Yang Xuanzhang stroked his beard and looked at his son Yang Tai: "Then you go and be polite. After all, the Shen family has given me a lot, and I can't even open my mouth."

Yang Tai smiled and said: "Take it today and give it back every day. The court will compensate you in the future. Why don't you open your mouth? I'll just go."

The Shen family grew from a small family, and with the support of Yang Ming, in just over ten years, it has become the largest family in Jingzhou.

With Xuanzhong's background, he has to give face.

(End of this chapter)