Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1744 Nine Palaces
Early in the morning, both inside and outside the Yellow River became busy.

From Baidaochuan to Jinshui River, from Jinhe County to Yulin Palace, countless people gathered, driving carts and leading mules and horses to transport supplies to various places for storage.

Rice from Lingzhou, wheat from Shengzhou, Indian salt from Fengzhou, cattle and sheep from Kujiesha, winter vegetables from Dijinze, etc., are piled up like a hill one after another.

The sound of horse hooves echoed in the tall thatch, occasionally mixed with camel bells.

The north wind blew hard, the decaying grass was broken, and the laughter of people came.

Groups of rugged men on horseback held bow tips in their hands, talking and laughing loudly as if no one else was around.When they approached the military camp, they subconsciously closed their mouths, as if there was some beast staring at them in front of them.

"Bah!" The riders slowed down their horses, circled in front of them, and then moved away again.

Everyone who had just walked out of the thatch breathed a sigh of relief almost at the same time.

The bastards of Tianxiong Army are really scary to watch.

They have sophisticated equipment, well-equipped armor, rich experience, superb skills, and most importantly, they dare to fight and fight, and they are very arrogant - even fierce.

They also looked down upon their superiors and looked down upon those who were born in the slave tribe. They only cared about the safety of the Holy Driver, and everything else was not considered.If you piss them off, you may be killed with real swords and guns.

After the Tianxiong Army rode away, a group of slaves presented the prey they had captured, and after taking a few glances at the Holy Driver's location from a distance, they left.

At this time, Shao Shude was standing on a temporary high platform, looking at the tents dotted on the grassland in the distance.

People from the nine palaces of Yulin, Woyang, Hongyuan, Xianyou, Changxia, Yong'an, Yonghe, Yongning and Yongding all came.

Yulin Palace is in Shengzhou and Woyang Palace is in Shenzhou. These two are relatively close.

Hongyuan Palace is located between Helong and the former six valleys of Tubo.

Xianyou and Changxia Palaces are located to the north of Yanshan Mountain.

The four palaces of Yong'an, Yonghe, Yongding and Yongning belong to Liaodong Road geographically.

Among the four palaces, the latter three are dominated by Shatuo, which is actually not as obedient as the other palaces.In recent years, there have been rebellions. The imperial court even recruited Blackwater Jurchen soldiers to suppress them, which took a lot of effort.

In fact, it’s no wonder they rebelled.I originally lived in Daibei, but now I have moved to Liaodong, which is still a bitter cold land in the northern half. It is impossible to say that I have no resentment in my heart.

What's more, they have not been established for a long time, only about ten years ago, and the prestige of the court has not yet reached a level that allows them to obey orders without hesitation.

Shao Shude once promised to take care of the three tribes of Shatuo.Now it seems that the care is indeed a bit "good".

The remaining six palaces, because they have been in operation for a long time, are generally very respectful, and can even be used for farming in the Western Regions. This can be seen from the fact that for Central Plains warriors, farming is an unimaginable thing.

It is normal for the nine palaces to have different degrees of obedience and familiarity.

"Erlang..." Shao Shude felt weak after standing for a while, so he sat down and said softly.

"Father, why are you calling me?" Shao Chengjie asked respectfully.

"This -" Shao Shude pointed with his hand and said: "This is the real family wealth that my father will hand over to you. It is not the family wealth of the imperial court, but actually my Shao family family wealth."

Outside the densely packed tents, there are already many people cutting grass, milking cows, and cooking.

Thanks to the efforts of Sinong Temple over the years, in today's grassland areas, if you don't know how to plant some land, you will be embarrassed to say hello to others when you go out.

In the diet of ordinary herdsmen, grains are rising rapidly. Although they have not yet replaced cow and goat milk, their daily lives have indeed been greatly changed.

They can cook and cook more and more. This is the trend and the general trend.

"The palace slaves, a total of about 3 people have come this time, and they are all the temporary choices of each palace." Shao Shude said: "If you deal well with them and build a good relationship with them, there will be many benefits in the future."

"I understand." Shao Chengjie said.

"Do you know why my father calls them the Shaw family?" "Maybe it's because I'm obedient."

"That's right." Shao Shude said: "They have war experience and their fighting ability is not weak. The most important thing is that the Beiya Privy Council can't control them. The major slaves only listen to my orders. After a few days, they I will also start to listen to your orders. Therefore, this is the real family background of the Shaw family."

Shao Chengjie nodded lightly.

He knew that his father invested a lot of resources in the slaves, gave them a lot of rewards, taught them how to farm, and the equipment they had accumulated over the years was also very good, so even if they were a countryman from Tutuan, their combat effectiveness was quite good.

In recent years, investment in educational resources has been increased, and many scholars have been sent from Central Plains to serve as teachers. Schools have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and they are encouraged to take the imperial examinations.

Judging from various measures, my father had great expectations for the palace slaves and did not just regard them as a source of troops.

"First of all, you must have your own people to do things." Shao Shude glanced at his son and said: "But it is not easy to find your own people. Some things cannot be carried out if they are boycotted by the officials below, or if they are violated in disguise or overtly. Grandpa asked all the palace slaves The Ministry regards it as one of its own, at least as a check and balance, so that officials from outside the DPRK do not dare to mess around. Think about it, if the DPRK officials all oppose it, won't you be able to implement your own will?"

"Yes." Shao Chengjie said.

"That's why we have to use slaves." Shao Shude said: "If the sergeants of slaves have performed meritorious service on the battlefield, they will be given officers when they should. If someone passes the imperial examination, they should be promoted when they should be promoted. Don't hesitate. Even if there are not many of them, they are still important. They are self-contained, and when foreign officials see their presence, they will be less inclined to bargain with you."

"In addition, it is an old rule of the country to select slave men as palace guards." Shao Shude continued: "You should be familiar with the affairs of Xu Wen and Zhang Hao in Huainan. Sometimes coups really don't need too many people. Xu and Zhang only used two hundred soldiers to successfully knock Yang Wo to the ground. If Yang Wo had trustworthy guards around him at that time, it would be difficult for them to succeed if the horse army in the east courtyard had not been transferred out of the city. Sometimes, for some things, it’s just a hair’s breadth.”

Shao Chengjie listened silently.

He knew that his father was using Huainan to reason with him, and what he was talking about was the matter of the Luoyang palace guards.

The palace slaves usually had no access to mainland officials, and the court did not allow them to contact them.It can be said that they are helpless in the Central Plains and it is difficult to connect with any forces, so they can be used with confidence, just like the Tang Dynasty where a large number of surrendered barbarians and foreign protons were used as palace guards.

At critical moments, these guards who have little involvement with outside interests will not let go and will fight to the death when encountering the enemy. This can buy a lot of time.

On the pasture ahead, more and more servants have climbed onto their horses and started a new day of training.

Shao Shude and Shao Chengjie, father and son, watched with interest.

The shooting on horseback, the shooting on dismounted foot, the shooting on armored foot, as well as the close-combat fighting skills that they have practiced hard over the years, all show to the world that this is a non-traditional grassland army with a weird "painting style".

"That's all I can give you." Shao Shude suddenly lost interest.

Cultivating one's own army base, official base base, and bodyguard base base is the meaning of the existence of the slave department.

The total number of people in the nine palaces exceeds 50. If managed well, there is still a lot to be done.

The prince was very excited after hearing what Shao Shude said.

For more than a year, he continued to visit various places to enhance his prestige. Everywhere he went, the people wholeheartedly welcomed him.

After two reorganizations of the troops, a large number of soldiers from the East Palace entered the Forbidden Army system.

This time, the slave department was handed over to him again, and the prince could clearly manage the nine palaces. It can be seen that the saint was indeed executing his plan step by step.

Excited, but a little sad.

The fact that his father handed over all his family assets so quickly was obviously a matter of concern for his own health. He didn't want anything to go wrong during the transfer of power, so he took it step by step with a full sense of urgency.

For a moment, the prince didn't know what to say and could only listen silently.

"Tomorrow, you will lead the Tianxiong Army to have a martial arts talk with them. First, show your authority to the various ministries. Then, I will summon all the officials with more than [-] households and let them pay their respects to you." After Shao Shude said this, he became more determined: " You should learn how I did it, and all the slaves in the palace will hand it over to Ah Li when you get old."

"I obey," Shao Chengjie responded.

This is really a family heirloom.However, Shao Chengjie felt that it was normal. If he ascended the throne, he would further control the nine palaces, invest more resources, and cultivate more talents - heirlooms must not fade during the process of passing them on.

(End of this chapter)