Father Han Gaozu

Chapter 722

"Hey, if I knew this earlier, I should have built up momentum for His Majesty and made sacrifices to His Majesty everywhere. Why is it so troublesome? And let this old man ride around all day long?"

Gongyang Shou was quite displeased.

At this moment, several of their officials were standing far away, watching His Majesty riding a white steed, swaggering into the camp of the local Hu tribe. For a while, the Hu tribe was boiling, men, women, old and young all came out to salute Greetings, they shouted loudly the name of Hercules, and they rushed to call, more and more people gathered, but they ignored them officials, and His Majesty stood among those barbarians, nodding cheerfully , as if he had returned home.

Not long after, His Majesty was surrounded by those barbarians, and even the embroidered clothes who secretly protected him had no choice but to show up, silently occupying the commanding heights, and those close guards were full of helplessness. He threatened to push them away, but his majesty couldn't help pulling them towards him.

Gong Yangshou was even a little jealous at this moment.

He also came to Xia Kingdom for a while, and during this time, he followed Fu Qing around to visit these tribes. Relying on his sword skills and the arrogance in his bones, he also convinced many Hu people's leaders. The leader of the Hu people likes people with courage and martial arts like Gongyangshou the most. He also wanted to show His Majesty the achievements of these people, and let him see how much the Hu people respected him. , these Hu people immediately forgot about them, and all circled around His Majesty.

Obviously we came first!

Wang Gao stroked his beard and said softly: "Your Majesty can win people, whether it is the people of the Central Plains or the people outside the Great Wall, His Majesty can get them all. This is also the talent and virtue of His Majesty. His Majesty has gone so far in the Xia Kingdom. It solved a lot of problems for us."

Fu Qing remained silent.

Lu Lu curled his lips when he heard this, and said, "Your Majesty is the best at getting along with barbarians. The more cruel and ungrateful the people, the more harmonious they get along with His Majesty. On the contrary, sincere gentlemen often have trouble getting along with Your Majesty."

"Oh, then Duke Lu must get along very well with His Majesty, right?"

"Ok??"

Lu Lu was taken aback for a moment, then stared at Zou Yang angrily.

"What do you mean?"

"It's nothing else, it's just that I don't like someone criticizing His Majesty."

Zou Yang said calmly.

Gong Yangshou glanced at them in surprise, then walked to Wang Gao's side, and asked in a low voice, "What's the matter with them?"

Wang Gao's face was calm, and he lowered his voice, "I heard that it was Jian Jianhou who discovered Zou Yang's article criticizing His Majesty in the newspaper and played it to His Majesty. This made His Majesty furious and demoted Zou Yang here. "

Gong Yangshou suddenly realized, "Then why did Hou Jiancheng do this? The two of them had a personal enmity in the past?"

"No, our majesty has always prided himself on being a wise king. He once demanded himself as the king of Qi Wei, asking all the officials to write a letter, and caught one who stabbed his majesty in the face, and was rewarded, and caught one who wrote a letter to persuade him If you catch someone who can slander and ridicule the court, you will be rewarded."

Hearing Wang Gao's words, even Gong Yangshou couldn't help shaking his head.

It can be seen that Zou Yang was still very angry about being exiled to Xia. He gritted his teeth and asked angrily: "I don't know if you can get a reward if you tell your Majesty what you said just now?"

Lu Lu didn't look at him again, and waved his hand, "You can try it."

Liu Chang has already gone to several tribes in the Xia Kingdom, and even went to see the sacrifices set up for him. His sacrifices are very ordinary, not as luxurious as imagined. In fact, he dug a hole in the ground, put stones around it, The blood of animals was used to fill the pool in the middle, and then the branches of trees were used to stain the blood. Finally, the blood-stained branches were used to whip each other, even if they were contaminated with divine power. Liu Chang thought it was interesting, and he personally presided over several blessing ceremonies, However, confiscated strength, several blessed warriors almost fainted.

He originally wanted to give the local officials a blessing, but the officials seemed reluctant.

Liu Chang was very satisfied with their ceremony, "This blessing is good, Lu! Write it down, and return to the temple later. If anyone is dissatisfied with me, give him a blessing!"

Liu Chang went to more than ten tribes successively, and received great welcome everywhere. At the beginning, the influence left by the Huns had a good side and a bad side, but now it seems that this good side , probably because of the admiration for Liu Chang, and the admiration for the strong. The psychology of admiration exists in any era, and in ancient times, the effect that this kind of psychology can play is even greater.

Liu Chang can also be regarded as personally observing many policies that Fu Qing formulated in the Xia Kingdom. In all honesty, Fu Qing has done a good job, and Liu Chang can't find any shortcomings even if he wants to find fault.

What excites Liu Chang the most is the local military power.

After possessing the great man's horseshoe saddle and other technologies, the local cavalry seems to have become a lot more tyrannical. If they cooperate with the big man's military thinking and new technologies in the military field, then the Xia country's iron cavalry will become the most powerful in the whole big man One of the armies, even in some aspects, is far superior to the North and South armies. It takes nearly a year to send troops from Chang'an to reach Beiting Kingdom, and it takes more than three days to send troops from Xia King City to reach Beiting Kingdom. Yue. It will probably only take more than a year to kill from here. They have extremely powerful mobility and the ability to supplement logistics on the spot. They are nomadic while fighting, and they can hit what the Central Plains Dynasty cannot The place.

If you want to fight Sabbath and Rome in the future, this cavalry will be the best choice, and it can be regarded as the emperor's whip.

After Liu Chang inspected the six tribes, he stopped and did not move on, mainly because he was too full to eat.

Liu Chang summoned Fu Qing alone, and the two sat in the tent and chatted about the plan for Xia Guo.

"The cavalry of the Xia Kingdom can no longer be handed over to the tribes in various places. It is necessary to set up an organized army. The era of all the people as soldiers has long passed. I am going to choose a general to be responsible for training and gathering the local cavalry. Choose people who can fight Form the Xia Kingdom cavalry to strengthen the control of these soldiers, teach them, let them become a strong army of the Han, this is also beneficial to your control of the place, what do you think?"

"Your Majesty thinks very well, but Xia Guo's national strength cannot support a standing army. It may not be feasible for His Majesty to set up a standing army of cavalry to separate them from animal husbandry and farming. These people are the main labor force of each tribe."

Liu Chang grinned, "Who said I want to set up a standing army?"

"At the beginning, Hu and Han lived together in Tang State, so I adopted Qin State's governance method, and solved many problems in a short period of time. My idea is to continue to implement the old Qin State's policies in Xia State."

"Since these soldiers cannot be full-time, let their officials govern the country on weekdays, and serve as generals in the rest of the time, responsible for drills, and lead them out in wartime. However, some changes must be made, and everyone cannot be trained like Qin. , you only need to train a group of people who can fight. There are not many places where Xia Guo needs to govern. It may be miraculous to use generals to take charge of local government affairs. The only thing to worry about is that these people are often rude. Can you Can you hold them down?"

Hearing Liu Chang's question, Fu Qing smiled confidently.

"Your Majesty, you can rest assured that although I don't have much talent, I can still rule the people under my command."

"Then it's decided. You don't know. Earlier, I spoke kindly to King Anxi, and my words were polite, but he sent envoys to insult me ​​and said that he would send troops to invade the big man. I wanted to lead the army to fight at that time. But all the ministers said that there is no food in the country, and let me put the state affairs first, so I can only hold back my anger. The cavalry of the Xia Kingdom is the best weapon when I go to the Anxi Kingdom in the future. You have to manage it for me. It is best to be able to Turn these 20 cavalry into 40, into 80! At that time, I will see what King Anxi has to say!"

Fu Qing bowed his head and accepted the order.

Liu Chang didn't stay in Xia Guo for too long, and there is nothing he needs to do here. He went hunting with the local tribes a few times, played wildly on the grassland for a few days, and then turned around and returned to Tang Guo.

However, his coming to Xia this time has relieved a lot of pressure on Fu Qing and others. With Liu Chang's actions, the tribes in various places dare not oppose orders from the government, which greatly increases the connection between the local area and the temple. A long inspection tour is even more useful than what Fu Qing has done in these years. They all take pride in being the people of Hercules, and the prestige of the officials of Xia State in the local area has greatly increased because of this, and the local officials can't help but sigh , should build a palace here, and invite His Majesty to come here several times.

When Liu Chang left Xia Guo, the local barbarians were reluctant to part with them, and they all sent their own gifts. They all knew that Liu Chang was good at fighting horses, so they specially gave him some horses, and Liu Chang accepted them with a smile. As a reward, Liu Chang pardoned the taxation of all livestock born under their names this year. The taxation of livestock is different from the agricultural tax. The taxation is determined according to the number of cubs born each year. Simply use the cubs to offset taxes.

His mighty guard of honor left Xia Guo, leaving only a large group of scourged thieves and rejoicing tribes.

When they led the people back to Tang country again, the Duyou almost completed what Liu Zhang had asked him to do.

He thoroughly investigated several counties around Yueshi Dao, and arrested more than ten people, all of whom have been sent to Chang'an, where they will go through a second trial in Chang'an, and then the verdict will be concluded.

Liu Chang didn't pay attention to this matter, instead he went to visit those old people in Tang country.

The first is to visit the former Taiwei Li Zuoche.

As the great sage Liu Chang first recruited, a famous military strategist, and a ruthless man recognized by Han Taiwei himself, Li Zuoche's prestige in the Tang Dynasty is also very high. Now he is very old and doesn't go out much. Yes, I spend all day at home, reading, writing and so on.

When Liu Chang came to the door, Li Taiwei looked very excited.

This rather pure military strategist made people open the door of his house, insisting on wearing armor and carrying weapons to greet the king. Although his family members repeatedly reminded that this is not the etiquette for welcoming the king, Li Zuoche didn't care. It is the etiquette for generals to welcome their kings, and they cannot be rude.

Liu Chang got out of the car and immediately saw the old general standing at the door.

The old general's hair and beard were all white, and he was no longer as fat and strong as he used to be. He looked tall and thin, and his armor was no longer suitable. He still straightened his back, and the mighty look on his face remained the same as before.

"The last general pays homage to the king!!"

The old general's voice was still so resonant, but Liu Chang didn't dare to let him stay any longer. He walked up to Li Zuoche's side a few steps, and supported him, with a wry smile on his face, "Why welcome me?" How about wearing armor?"

"I heard that Lian Po in the past was not reused when he was old, and he left regrets. Today, everyone thinks that I am old, and I have to send a dozen people to accompany me even when I go out. I just want to let your majesty know that although I am old, I can still wear clothes. You have to use your armor, if your majesty wants to go out, why don't you take me as a general?!"

When Li Zuoche's sons heard this, they immediately let out a long sigh.

His eldest son couldn't help but said: "Father, you are already at this age, not to mention that the world is peaceful now, it is a war, how can I let you go?"

Li Zuoche didn't speak, but just looked straight at Liu Chang.

But Liu Chang laughed loudly, and grabbed Li Zuoche's hand, "With the general's words, I can feel at ease. I will attack Anxi in the future, and I will probably invite you to be the deputy commander!"

Li Zuoche was a little dissatisfied, "Why is he the deputy commander?"

"Oh, my master said to be the head coach."

Li Zuoche nodded hurriedly, "That should be the deputy commander."

Liu Chang laughed, and led the old man into the mansion. The two sat down, and Liu Chang asked the old man to disarm him, "There are no enemies now, and it's not too late to put on the armor when it's time to fight!"

Li Zuoche's children are very filial. After his father got old, the eldest son resigned from his official position and came to serve his father. The children often came to visit him, and they took good care of him. It's smooth, but, like all the generals Liu Chang has met, Li Zuoche's life was not happy. Liu Chang always felt that people who have fought for a lifetime must look forward to having children and grandchildren in the end and staying away from the battlefield , to spend his old age peacefully, but this is not the case.

Almost every general hopes to return to the familiar battlefield in the end. They hate this peaceful and boring life.

Liu Chang wanted Zhou Bo, Xia Houying and other generals to resign from their posts and return to Chang'an to retire.

And then they wrote a letter together, very aggrieved and asked Liu Chang if he had done anything wrong.Zhou Bo even promised in the letter that he would quell the Wai Qiang within three months and let Liu Chang give him another chance.

It was originally out of good intentions and wanted them to spend their old age in peace, but it seemed to be punishing them, which made Liu Chang very helpless.

The same is true for Li Zuoche. Because of his old age, he is raised at home. No one dares to despise him. The local officials do not forget to visit him, but he just feels that this kind of life is not good, and he still wants to return to the battlefield. At the meeting, he still wanted to fight another war. Sitting at the banquet, he even took out the newspaper and pointed to the news of Xia Guo’s expedition to the tribes outside the Great Wall, looking very sad and angry, “This Fu Qing is not good at fighting. How can we use the tactics of the Central Plains? The important thing is not the land, but the vitality of the enemy. What is the use of repelling them instead of looting their people?"

"To crusade against the enemies outside the Great Wall, we must find ways to weaken their strength. Their strength does not come from the city, but just seized their territory and pastures, and spread the word that they have won. Isn't this a stupid act?"

"If His Majesty allows me to go to Xia Kingdom, I will definitely be able to subdue all the tribes that do not surrender within half a year!!"

Li Zuoche's sons were terrified when they heard it. They were really afraid that the emperor would send their father to fight in Xia Guo on the spur of the moment. Woolen cloth?

Fortunately, Liu Chang didn't come to the top, and he listened to Li Zuoche's suggestion seriously.

"You are right, I will write to Fu Qing to tell Fu Qing what you think, and let him do it according to your idea!"

Li Zuoche let out a long sigh and shook his head.

A trace of sadness flashed in his eyes, "Is it true that the old minister can't be allowed to go to Xia Kingdom? Maybe it won't take half a year."

Liu Chang was silent for a moment, then looked at the children beside him.

"Old general, I actually understand your thoughts. I really want to go out and fight on the battlefield. If possible, it is best to die on the battlefield. But sometimes, for the sake of the people around us, we can only I chose to compromise, I can’t go to the war, and it’s very difficult to even leave Chang’an because I still have a mother, a child, and even a grandson. If I go to the war, countless people will worry about me. Therefore, I can only dismiss it. The idea of ​​self-conquest, every time I cherish the opportunity to go out. People can't just live for themselves, right?"

Li Zuoche chuckled, didn't say anything about the expedition, picked up the newspaper again, and narrated his views on the wars in various places.

"The older Zhou Bo is, the more cautious he becomes. It took more than a year to fight the Wai Qiang. Is he planning to completely regain the Wai Qiang?"

"Why did Xiting fight with Kang Juguo? Is Xia Houying's son really in charge of the war?"

Both of them seemed to have forgotten the unhappiness they had just had, and they had a very happy chat.

The old general had a good appetite, and he ate a lot. The two ate a lot, and then talked about the Anxi Kingdom. They both agreed that if they want to attack Anxi, they can rely on the Xia Kingdom's cavalry.

After eating and drinking enough, Liu Chang and Li Zuoche bowed to each other, and everyone wanted to send Liu Chang away.

Li Zuo stood at the door, watching Liu Chang go away in the car, lost his mind.

He turned around, bent his body, let the children support him, and was about to return to the inner room, but he heard the carriage go and return.

The emperor suddenly jumped out of the car and walked quickly to Li Zuoche's side.

"Suddenly forgot one thing, general, Zhou Yafu is going to set up a military academy in Chang'an, you come to be a grand ceremony bar?!"

ps: After two days of infusion, I finally got better. Although I still have a cough and fatigue, I finally have the strength to code words, and I will recover two more times! !
(End of this chapter)