The Maojin knife from the late Jin Dynasty

Chapter 297 The flames of war

Liu Tai waited for Zhao An's arrival at the entrance of the canal in Linzi.

To be honest, Liu Tai originally thought that after he gave the order, Zhao An would immediately take a boat south from Jinkou and then meet him here in Linzi.

But unexpectedly, this guy went directly to conscript the sheep under Liu Han's jurisdiction, smoked them into mutton strips, and sent them south as a food reserve.

To be honest, these muttons are planned to be expanded and reproduced in the future.

With the replacement of nomadic agriculture by animal husbandry, don’t look at the fact that only 20,000 head are raised now, but as long as it is raised for a few years, mutton will almost enter the land-owning class, at least it will no longer be able to eat meat only during the holidays. , but you can have one bite in a month.

As a result, Zhao An was not polite at all.

However, he chose to kill the sheep instead of the cow, which at least showed that Zhao An was rational. It will be seen that he did not miss the deadline again.

It's easy to say anything if the deadline is not missed, but if it is missed, then this matter will be recorded in a small notebook and settled later.

And soon, Liu Tai saw the Chinese-character flag floating on the fleet. In addition to the Chinese-character flag, there was also the Tian-character flag flying.

Liu Tai arranged for Tian Zhen to pick up Zhao An. After all, before the war began, it was very important to reduce unnecessary damage to horses. Seeing Tian Zhen's fleet coming by, Liu Tai's face showed satisfaction. smile.

Tian Zhen and Zhao An also came down from the fleet, and Liu Tai clearly saw that Zhao An's lips were white and his eyes were dull, and his body seemed to be shaking when he moved, and he seemed to be holding himself up.

However, Zhao An still came to Liu Tai step by step and said, "The entire Youzhou front army reports to the king."

Following Zhao An's words, the tiger talisman in Zhao An's hand was presented, which merged with the tiger talisman in Liu Tai's hand.

Liu Tai nodded, but looking at Zhao An at this moment, he said loudly: "Return to the military camp, rest for a while, and reply as soon as possible. When the news from Yongji Qutong is passed, we will send troops to Jinting."

"Follow the order!" After Zhao An saluted Liu Tai, his expression fell slightly.

Liu Tai looked at Zhao An's appearance and couldn't help but said, "What's going on? Are you wasting your body in the north?!"

"It's because the boat has been rocking for several days. I'm not used to it! I always feel that my feet are very unstable." Zhao An also complained to Liu Tai, "I'm fine, but some of my soldiers can't bear it. Stop throwing up."

Liu Tai shook his head when he heard this and said, "Now I know it's not easy for Tian Zhen to lead troops, right?"

"You shouldn't praise me, you shouldn't praise me!" Tian Tian said with a smile, "What skills do I have? It's just that practice makes perfect!"

"Old Tian, ​​you are becoming more and more kind now, you are no longer the legend that stirred up the situation back then!" Liu Tai couldn't help but sigh.

"Being kind is good, being kind brings wealth!" Tian Tian shrugged, "Leave all the fighting and killing matters to Kan'er, and I will take care of the materials and give Kan'er more brothers in the future!"

"In the future, when we fight against the Xianbei Murong tribe, we still need you to hold the line, but just don't collapse your body!" Liu Tai said calmly.

"Your Majesty also knows about Murong Xianbei?!" Tian Tian was a little surprised when he heard Liu Tai's words.

Liu Tai said: "It's not like there are a few guys who don't behave like Han people, and end up insisting on staying in the Murong tribe.

Then keep it. After all, the land of Liaodong has been the land of our Han Dynasty since ancient times. If the Jin court hadn't restrained it, how could it have been occupied by foreigners? "

During the Yongjia Rebellion, many nobles fled to the Xianbei tribe, and Murong Hui of the Xianbei tribe was also heroic and a generation of outstanding men, so he settled these nobles.

Now that he is holding high the banner of the Han Dynasty, these guys not only have no intention of returning to the embrace of the Han Dynasty, but are also working hard to help Murong Xianbei to sinicize, thereby strengthening Murong Xianbei's heritage, and they are very dissatisfied with the king's transformation.

Liu Tai had nothing to say about this.

Such behavior will indeed make Murong Xianbei stronger, but similarly, if you can defeat Murong Xianbei and accept Murong Xianbei, at least there will be no conflict in the cultural system.

To be honest, this is a bit like today's Bangzi Country, because everything is stolen and everything is claimed to be one's own. Stealing one or two items naturally makes people feel disgusted, but stealing everything in terms of food, clothing, housing, and transportation. In the end, you are afraid of killing yourself. Throw it clean.

Therefore, Liu Tai naturally welcomed Murong Xianbei's sinicization with the help of these nobles.

Now they haven't made it worthwhile to send troops for conquest, but if they complete the Chineseization by themselves, they don't even need to train themselves, and the Xianbei population is converted from Hu to Han, then the value of Murong Xianbei itself will be worth fighting for.

But now, I am with them in spirit, as pure as supporting Ze Sheng. I sincerely hope that Murong Huang will succeed!

And now that he is in Linzi, he has not gone to Taishan County. The most important point is that Gou Xi has gone to attack Xu Gong again because of the mountains and hills to the north of Linzi. Therefore, the news that he is gradually gathering heavy troops in Linzi can be done as soon as possible. May be hidden.

At the same time, at this time, Wang Sang was making moves north of Xingyang, and Zhou Fu was gathering north of Dawn. If Li Ju and Zu Yue hadn't discovered it, it would have been impossible, and they were the first to Reported to the imperial court in Jiankang.

After all, with this kind of large-scale personnel dispatch, it is impossible to completely conceal the frontline generals.

Both Li Ju and Zu Yue were worried because they sent letters to the court asking for help, because they all knew very well that in the face of Liu Tai, they could only defend the city.

But to what extent it can be defended, and whether it can be defended, depends on how much support the Jin court gives it.

Zu Yue said to Huan Xuan, "The imperial court didn't reply. Didn't Yuzhou also reply?"

"When Prince Dai raised his army, he had already been recruited back to Jiankang by the imperial court, and he also brought many soldiers with him from Yuzhou. Nowadays, Yuzhou really cannot mobilize troops to support it, so even if it does, it must be rescued first. The imperial court!" Huan Xuan said.

"Damn it!" Zu Yue heard Huan Xuan's words and couldn't help but slap the city wall hard and said angrily,

"The Han Dynasty obviously heard about Wang Dun's army, so he sent soldiers to the Yellow River. If the court does not put down Wang Dun's rebellion, we may be left alone and helpless when Liu Tai attacks!"

"There is no point in complaining now. We can only use the arrangements left by our ancestors to block the Han army as much as possible until reinforcements from the Jin court come to support." Huan Xuan said with a serious expression.

Zu Yue was helpless, and just as helpless as Zu Yue was Li Ju in Xingyang. Compared with Zu Yue, Li Ju's manpower has been depleted a lot. Although most of those people are weak-minded, the lack of people is a disadvantage.

However, Li Ju made a lot of money and food by trading with Liu Tai, and the armor of his soldiers was at least as good as leather armor for the entire army. Of course, if those people had not left, Li Ju would not have been able to equip the entire army. .

Even so, when he saw Wang Sang's army gathering in Jijun, stopping the mutual trade step by step and setting up sentries, Li Ju understood that this war was about to begin, and he was afraid that he would not be able to avoid it no matter what.

At this time, Zhang Song sent an envoy to Li Ju holding high a silk banner with the slogan "One piece of clothing carries water, the sun and moon are in the same sky."

No matter how you say it, if the Xingyang issue can be resolved peacefully, it will not be a loss to Zhang Song. The most important thing is that it would be better if Li Ju killed the envoy, then the big man would naturally stand on the moral high ground.

When Zhang Song sent the envoy out, he had no idea that the envoy would come back alive, so he made many unceremonious promises to the envoy and prepared to use his head to buff the Han army.

But Zhang Song didn't understand Li Ju, or in other words, Li Ju was one of the few benevolent generals in the entire Jin court.

For example, when the world was in chaos, starvation and plague were rampant, a group of thieves were wreaking havoc in the Sizhou area. Li Ju sent his men to defeat them and obtain the women robbed from the thieves.

Even if it were Liu Tai, these women would probably find a way to give them to the soldiers under his command so that they could have a stable home.

After all, the final unit of Liu Tai's military system is the family, which determines the status of women, which is roughly male + female = male + female.

This makes it seem like women are selected by the soldiers, but in fact these women still have a very high status in their own families. Even if the soldiers are not at home or die in battle, there is still an entire group of officers' family members to safeguard the overall interests of the military families.

During this process, because the soldiers go out to fight all the year round, there will of course be some pretty boys who seduce the military family members, or women who want to cheat on them. However, if the soldiers are not sacrificed, the soldiers will decide the punishment for the adulterers. If they want to kill them, they will be punished. , I want to waste it.

If a soldier has died in battle, he will receive a one-time pension after notifying the court, and then exclude the military dependents.

If someone is found to have committed adultery with someone else, the pension will be cancelled, and then the military dependents will be eliminated.

All in all, all laws are mainly to protect soldiers. Even after soldiers retire, they are not subject to civil law, but to military law. If these soldiers do not take over the official position of the court, they need to report to the government every year. of.

It can be said that, driven by the military system, women have certain economic rights in the family, but even so, Liu Tai's army may not be considered respectful to women.

However, Li Ju chose to let go of the women's association in his hometown nearby, and had no intention of occupying it and giving women to the soldiers. This kind of kindness towards the people is really rare.

So what Li Ju chose was to send back all the envoys sent by Zhang Song.

And he made it clear that if you want to attack, then come and attack. Anyway, I, Li Ju, will not surrender.

At this moment, Zhang Song had no choice. Since Li Ju did not choose to surrender, he should prepare for war.

Li Ju also saw more and more Wang Sang's troops on the other side, especially Su Jun's ships, appearing on the Yellow River waterway.

At this moment, the Yellow River has returned to its flood season, so the Han fleet has once again exerted an absolute high degree of suppression on the river bank defense facilities.

Zu Ti originally wanted to train a navy army on the Yellow River to compete with Liu Tai's army, but the problem was that the navy army was not so easy to create.

Until now, Zu Ti had only prepared materials. After Zu Ti died, the so-called navy was dead, so he probably gave up.

Li Ju sighed, and suddenly felt that everything was difficult, especially after the death of Zu Ti, the pillar supporting the north, Li Ju felt this even more.

Dai Yuan, a famous scholar, was far different from Zu Ti in his ability to lead troops.

Not to mention, at this time, there was civil strife in the Jin court. The Han Dynasty did not fight, but only gathered heavy troops to the Yellow River border. One of the important reasons was that they were not sure whether Wang Dun was rebelling.

Therefore, it is directly tested by gathering the army. In any case, Liu Tai has increased his troops, and the Jin court has to increase its troops to deal with it. If the troops are not increased, the Han Dynasty will never miss this time. Opportunity.

As for traps and the like, most places in the Central Plains are flat. The best way to deter Liu Tai is to have more troops than Liu Tai.

Otherwise, as long as Liu Tai's cavalry reaches the flat land of the Central Plains, no matter what kind of ambush there is, even if they can't defeat it, they still can't escape!

Therefore, when it is necessary to show one's own power, but one does not show one's own strength, then Wang Dun's rebellion may have been confirmed by Liu Tai. As for the envoy Liu Tai photographed, at least he is a human life, so why kill him just because he said it?

Just when Li Ju was thinking about it, the master next to him, Bo Gouyuan, pointed at the smoke rising up one after another on the other side, and said with a solemn expression, "Prefect, look at the other side!"

Li Ju raised his head and looked at the rising smoke, his expression became serious, and he said,

"This is obviously a signal that the other party has prepared in advance. Let the whole city prepare for martial law and let all the soldiers be prepared!"

The generals around Li Ju decisively said to Li Ju at this time, "Follow the order!"

Li Ju nodded and looked at Wang Sang on the other side, but he was not afraid. Although he did not fight for rights with Dai Yuan, he even sent some people to Dai Yuan.

But it was this cooperative attitude that allowed him to take back control of Xingyang, use the money from the mutual trade to further arm his soldiers, recruit refugees again, and prepare for resistance.

If Liu Tai thinks he is weak, then he will clearly see what kind of tough guy he is!

In contrast, Li Ju looked at the rising smoke, but he knew very well that Liu Tai had obviously been prepared, and this attack did not focus on Xingyang at all, but on the entire Yellow River. Become Liu Tai’s landing point!

"I hope that boy Zu Yue can resist it!" Li Ju could only hope that Zu Yue could be worthy of his brother!

Zu Yue also looked at the rising disgust. Huan Xuan beside him said, "The enemy army is strong. I will take the first step to garrison Gaoping. We will resist at all levels and we can always buy your majesty time to calm down Wang Dun." !”

Zu Yue nodded. What else could Zu Yue say? He could only say, "Take care along the way!"

(End of this chapter)