Chapter 108 Don't Splash Blood on Me (4k)
Su Ze said, "Brother Yu, you don't know that this horse was brought into the barracks by Su himself. It was so-called a reward to the soldiers, and it was also raised in the horse farm and allocated exclusively for their daily training."
Think about it, ordinary soldiers cannot afford to raise horses. A horse consumes more grass than a person eats on a daily basis. War horses also need nutritional supplements besides grass, and they also need special people to clean and maintain them.
Su Ze said that he had given horses as gifts, and these horses were still kept in the stables of the military camp.
Li Tong also said that riding requires the training of tacit understanding between horse and rider, and assigning horses to designated owners can also cultivate tacit understanding between them.
Yu Jin felt that he could accept what Su Ze said, but how could someone actually train soldiers at his own expense?
Yu Jin found that he no longer understood this world, but he was still shocked by Su Ze's courage.
Yu Jin advised, "Brother Su, we should not fail to reward the soldiers, but we should not over-reward them. If we do not reward them, they will not work hard, but over-rewarding them will only arouse greed."
Su Ze nodded. He naturally understood Yu Jin's advice. The soldiers who were over-rewarded were the military governors of the Tang Dynasty. The military governors of the Tang Dynasty were unruly and would rebel as long as their treatment decreased slightly. More military governors of the Tang Dynasty died in their own coups than those who died in the expeditions of the Tang Dynasty court.
The only dynasty that didn't reward was the Song Dynasty, which kept hundreds of thousands of imperial guards in Kaifeng Prefecture in vain, but they were vulnerable when fighting.
This is the difficulty of leading troops. You can't be too nice to the soldiers, nor can you be too harsh on them. You have to prevent them from causing chaos, but you also have to worry about them being too cowardly on the battlefield.
Su Ze took Yu Jin's hand and said, "Yu Lang, you can come to the camp more often in the future. I want to ask you for advice on how to lead and train troops."
Yu Jin originally wanted to refuse. No matter how poor he was, the Yu family was still a noble family. After he came of age, he could not be granted an official position in the imperial court, but it would not be difficult for him to be appointed to a position in a prefecture or county. If he stayed in the Yulin Army and assisted Su Ze, a mere brigade commander, in training troops, he would be laughed at if this got out.
But it was the first time that Yu Jin had seen an officer like Su Ze, and he was also very curious about what kind of soldiers Su Ze could train.
Yu Jin has been studying "The Art of War" since he was a child. Although he has seen his elders leading troops in training, they would never consider his opinions.
Being valued so much by Su Ze, Yu Jin finally nodded and said, "Then I will come to the military camp when I have time."
Su Ze was overjoyed and said, "You can't drink alcohol in the army. When we have a day off, I will invite Yu Lang to have a drink!"
Then Su Ze called Su Suan and presented a gift to Yu Jin.
Now Su Suan is the chief steward of the military camp. Although Su Ze is also worried that he will embezzle money, there is currently no more suitable candidate.
Although Su Ze was not confident in Su Suan's management of logistics, he was not worried at all about preparing gifts for guests.
Su Suan always prepares gifts just right. His gifts are neither too heavy, so that the other party dares not accept them, nor too light, so that the other party feels despised.
For example, the gift given to Yu Jin was a jar of Luoyang's famous wine, and Yu Jin felt no psychological pressure in accepting it.
Su Ze made friends with Yu Jin because he really felt that he was a talented person. As expected, those who could leave a mark in history books were all outstanding people of the time.
As a time traveler, with the help of the system, Su Ze was already overwhelmed just by training these two hundred people.
When Su Ze thought of the great devil of the Northern Wei Dynasty lurking in Xiurongchuan, General Tianzhu Erzhu Rong, he felt like a mountain was pressing on his heart.
If you want to achieve something in troubled times, you can't get around the huge obstacle of Erzhu Rong.
With all his planning and hard-earned capital, he could not even match a finger of Erzhu Rong.
According to historical records, the Erzhu tribe of Xiurongchuan was the richest in the world. The three kinds of livestock, horses, sheep and camels, were raised on pastures in the mountains and were managed separately according to the color of the livestock's hair.
Every autumn when he came to Luoyang, Erzhu Rong would bring a large number of high-quality horses and present them to the princes, ministers and nobles of the court.
Moreover, Erzhu Rong trained private soldiers from his tribe who were loyal to him, while Su Ze trained the Yulin Army which nominally belonged to the imperial court.
Su Ze sighed. When the system can give him tens of thousands of orange followers, he will be able to defeat Erzhu Rong!
However, seeing the nature of the system, it is not easy to create a group of absolutely loyal officers for oneself.
Soldiers still need to be trained. Since they are not as talented as Erzhu Rong, they can only work hard on their acquired abilities.
Isn't there an example of acquired effort right in front of me? Erzhu Rong was trained as the heir of the tribe since he was a child, and he took the tribal soldiers hunting when he was a child. But Gao Huan is still just a border town envoy. My starting point is much higher than Gao Huan.
Su Ze regained his spirit and composed himself. The next step was to follow the plan and take back the occupied land from Longhua Temple, and also take the opportunity to ask for the start-up funds for military training from Longhua Temple.
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"Grandpa, it really wasn't me who did this!"
Hou Yuan was locked in the ancestral hall, crying and shouting towards the outside.
Hou Gang rubbed his forehead. He knew of course that his son did not do it.
Hou Gang, as his father, knew how capable Hou Yuan was. Hou Yuan had only been in the Material Officer Camp for a short time. How could he make the Yulin guards risk their lives for him?
Moreover, this group of thieves obeyed orders and were able to break into the shops guarded by the guards, and retreat before the Municipal Guards and the City Gate Captain arrived. How could they be the losers in the Yulin Army?
If the Yulin Army was so powerful, why did the imperial court have to recruit soldiers from prefectures and counties every time it went on an expedition?
But Hou Gang knew that his son did not do it, and even the people who were attacked knew that Hou Yuan did not do it. But everyone said that Hou Yuan did it, so it was Hou Yuan who did it!
It doesn’t matter whether it was Hou Yuan or not. What matters is that it was the Yulin Army that took action. This is enough to cause a storm!
Hou Gang had experienced several court conflicts and had a very keen sense of smell.
In the court, there were many people who were jealous of the Imperial Guards who used Emperor Xiaowen's military orders to trade in southern goods for profit. In the past, there were ministers who came from the Imperial Guards who spoke for the Imperial Guards. At that time, the Yulin Huben were also the elite of the court, so the Imperial Guards were allowed to enjoy the profits from the southern goods trade alone.
However, in recent years, the opportunities for military personnel to select officials have gradually been cut off, and there has not been an important official from the Yulin Army for a long time.
The combat effectiveness of the Imperial Guards themselves was also declining. In several imperial campaigns, the Imperial Guards brought out from Luoyang had poor combat effectiveness. During the Battle of Fushan Weir, the court simply recruited soldiers from the prefectures and counties to fight in the front lines, and let the Imperial Guards enjoy the profits of the southern goods trade alone. Some people were already ready to make a move.
Regardless of whether the robbery of the Treasure Pavilion in Sitong City was done by the Imperial Guards, the forces behind it will definitely take advantage of this to cause trouble.
However, Hou Gang was still not sure whether the person behind this wanted the Imperial Guards to give up some of their share of the smuggled southern goods, or simply to cancel the Imperial Guards' privilege of smuggling southern goods and monopolize the southern goods trade.
Hou Gang, a lucky minister, was best at checking the direction of the court. He could only confine his son Hou Yuan at home and write to the court to request the Henan government to investigate and clear his son's name. Hou Gang didn't care who would win, he just didn't like blood to splash on them.
It's windy again in Luoyang.
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In Henan Prefecture, Su Cho hurried to the Mingtang where Li Daoyuan worked, holding the records of the investigation by the Henan officials.
"Mr. Li!"
Li Daoyuan took the bamboo paper and found that it was indeed much more convenient to use bamboo paper for work.
Bamboo paper is thin and light, and it greatly improves the efficiency of document delivery. Ever since the paper mill began producing paper, Li Daoyuan has vigorously promoted the use of paper for office work in Henan Prefecture.
"Ling Chuo, what do you think?"
Su Chao said without hesitation: "Someone committed a crime under the name of Yulin."
Li Daoyuan also nodded. Su Cho had been following him to learn how to handle government affairs and had already inherited 30% of his true teachings. He really liked this disciple.
However, Su Chao was far less talented than Su Ze in studying water classics.
When it comes to the geography of mountains and rivers, Su Ze can always point out the important and key areas as if he had been there personally, and he can also draw inferences from one example and find the strategic nodes of the region.
Su Cho found studying more difficult. After helping himself with government affairs every day, he also had to read a lot of books in order to keep up with the progress of Li Daoyuan's teaching.
Li Daoyuan put down the bamboo paper and said, "Lingchuo, don't you think the method used in this case is very similar to the Mahayana case a while ago?"
Su Cho was enlightened by Li Daoyuan and recalled the details of several cases of Mahayana Buddhism, which were indeed very similar.
But even though they found the direction to investigate, neither Li Daoyuan nor Su Cho showed any joy on their faces.
The Mahayana case came to an end, not because Henan Prefecture solved the case, but because the Mahayana sect in Jizhou officially launched a rebellion. The Mahayana stronghold in Luoyang found that the situation was hopeless and withdrew from Luoyang.
The Henan government investigated for many days but still couldn't determine how many murderers there were.
Originally he thought the case had come to an end, but now a robbery of southern goods has occurred in Sitong City, and this case also involves high-ranking officials in the court who were involved in the smuggling of southern goods. Li Daoyuan felt a headache when he thought of this.
Li Daoyuan's prediction was correct. Not long after the case happened, many court officials sent private messages to him. The most intense one among them came from Si Tu Zhang Yi, who had retired at home due to illness.
Just when Li Daoyuan was having a headache, the official from Henan Prefecture came again to inform him that the Empress Dowager's imperial edict had arrived before Henan Prefecture.
Li Daoyuan quickly straightened his official robe, hurried to the gate of Henan Prefecture, and opened the main door to welcome the imperial edict.
What surprised Li Daoyuan was that the person responsible for conveying the imperial edict this time was actually King Jiangyang Yuanyi!
The imperial edict also surprised Li Daoyuan. The attack on the shops in Sitong City actually attracted the attention of the ruling Empress Dowager Hu, who also requested the cooperation of Henan Prefecture and the investigation of the case together with General Yuan Yi, who was in charge of the security of the Forbidden City, and Yuan Shen, the Minister of Military Discipline, who was in charge of military discipline.
Yuan Yi forced a fake smile on his ugly face and said to Li Daoyuan:
"Mr. Li, this case involves the Imperial Guards, which is why the Queen Mother takes it so seriously. The Queen Mother's decree also said that no one should be spared no matter who is found."
After hearing this, Li Daoyuan also understood that King Jiangyang Yuan Yi intervened in this case in order to deal with the nominal supreme commander of the Yulin Army, the General of the Guard, King Qinghe Yuan Yi!
Li Daoyuan also experienced the tacit understanding of Emperor Xiaowen and the struggles among the kings during the reign of Emperor Xuanwu. At that time, the bloody feud among the masters and kings shook the entire court and involved a large number of innocent officials.
But seeing the expression on King Jiangyang's face, Li Daoyuan could only bow and say, "Yes!"
After receiving the decree, Prince Jiangyang Yuanyi immediately took his leave. Li Daoyuan watched his departing back. He only hoped that the blood of the infighting among these princes would not be splashed on the innocent people of Luoyang.
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The long-term trade in southern goods also allowed the Yulin Army to form a complete system, which included merchants responsible for purchasing goods from the south, county soldiers responsible for transportation in local prefectures and counties, and finally the Yulin Army responsible for distributing southern goods in the capital.
Within the Yulin Army, there is also an organization responsible for allocating the sales share of southern goods. This organization also holds regular meetings, and the person in charge of attending the meetings from the Caiguanying is the military Sima Mu Shaoyou.
As soon as Mu Shaoyou appeared, the other participants in the meeting looked at him with disgust.
As soon as Mu Shaoyou sat down, a sarcastic voice said, "Sima Mu, you can't control your own commander. Now the whole Luoyang is saying that the Imperial Guards attacked the Treasure Pavilion. Now the officials in the court have found an excuse. I heard that the Imperial Secretary has written a letter saying that Emperor Xiaowen allowed the Imperial Guards to sell captured southern goods only as a temporary measure. Now that the southern front is at peace, the privilege of our Imperial Guards to sell southern goods should be revoked."
Mu Shaoyou looked up and saw that the man with the weird expression was indeed his mortal enemy, Yu Zhen, the commander of the Yue Cavalry Battalion.
The Yu family and the Mu family were both losers in the court struggle, but the Mu family failed more thoroughly. Although Yu Zhong lost power, Empress Dowager Hu was grateful for Yu Zhong's contribution in supporting her and simply drove them out of the court.
Yu Zhen still had contacts with important officials in the court, and there was still hope for him to pass through the crowded military official selection channel, so after he finished speaking, everyone responded.
Selling southern goods is the main source of income for the imperial guards today, and it is also the lifeline for these officers to make money.
Most officers had no hope of being selected by the Ministry of Personnel for a chance to make a breakthrough, and making money was their only pursuit.
Mu Shaoyou was also very depressed. He didn't expect that instigating Hou Yuan to cause trouble at the Treasure Pavilion would cause so much trouble. He originally just wanted to make a contribution so that he could be allocated a larger share of the sales of southern goods.
However, the Mu family had been away from the court for too long and had completely lost track of the dynamics of the court's top brass, so they got into trouble if they were not careful.
If the imperial court really abolished the privilege of the imperial guards to engage in the southern goods trade, everyone present would want to eat Hou Yuan and Mu Shaoyou. Hou Yuan had his father protecting him, so at worst he could move to another place and wait for an official appointment. But he had worked so hard to climb to the position of military commander, and he absolutely could not sit there and wait to die.
Thinking of this, Mu Shaoyou gritted his teeth and said:
"If the court really wants to revoke the imperial army's privilege of selling southern goods, we will mobilize the soldiers to cause trouble!"
Yu Zhen snorted coldly and said, "Making trouble? Who will follow you in making trouble? Can you mobilize the soldiers of your Shesheng Battalion to follow you in making trouble?"
Mu Shaoyou had thought it through when he came, and he immediately said, "It's almost time to pay the military salaries, so let's put a card on it and say that the court wants to cancel the imperial army's southern goods trade and check and seal the accounts."
"We can also spread rumors in the army. The court should not only cancel the privilege of the imperial army to sell southern goods, but also recover the income from previous years. The army has had profit sharing over the years, and everyone has taken the annual allowance. If they can't pay it back, they will be sent to the six towns to guard the border!"
Mu Shaoyou couldn't care less about so many things. He didn't care about the struggles among the upper echelons of the court. He just hoped that the blood would not splash on himself.
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(End of this chapter)