Chapter 240: Stone Mound Officer
Yang Shaoxing still had a good reputation among the Baima Di people. His two sons, Yang Zhihui and Yang Bixie, looked at each other and knew that they could not persuade their father, so they could only agree that each tribe would send out some men and let Yang Shaoxing "give it a try".
Yang Shaoxing’s target was Wu Xing.
Yang Shaoxing proclaimed himself king in Wuxing back then, and by controlling Wuxing, he severed the connection between the Huicheng Basin in the west of Liangzhou and the Hanzhong Basin in the east of Liangzhou, and cooperated with the Southern Liang in attacking Hanzhong.
It was a pity that he met Yang Kan's father, Yang Zhi, who was the governor of Liangzhou at that time. He decisively attacked and destroyed Wuxing and captured Yang Shaoxing.
The Baima Di in Qiuchi Mountain gave some tribal soldiers to Yang Shaoxing, and he led his troops to attack Wuxing County.
Yang Shaoxing was full of ambition and complacency. When he was in Luoyang, let alone General Anxi, he had even met General Zhengxi and General Zhenxi of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and they were all incompetent. What kind of combat effectiveness could a General Anxi who was exiled to Liangzhou have?
Moreover, Yang Shaoxing also heard that Su Ze was now staying in Hanzhong with his main force, and the only one guarding Wuxing was a lieutenant general named Hou.
Wuxing County was where he started his rebellion. Yang Shaoxing felt that he still had prestige in the county and that as long as he led his troops down the mountain, Wuxing would surrender.
At this time, it was Hou Jing who stayed behind in Wuxing.
After learning that the Baima Di people near Wuxing were the Yang family who established the Qiuchi State, Su Ze transferred Hou Jing back to Wuxing and asked him to monitor the movements of the Baima Di people in the mountains.
Su Ze vaguely remembered that the fourth time Qiuchi restored its country in history was after the Luoyang Diving Competition, and this time it lasted until the establishment of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.
Because history has been disrupted, Su Ze is not sure whether these Baima Di people will rebel in advance.
Hou Jing was somewhat dissatisfied with being assigned to Wuxing. How dare those White Horse Di people on Qiuchi Mountain rebel?
Hou Jing did not take it seriously and even delayed the work of repairing the wall of Wuxing County. He spent the whole day hunting outside the city with his troops.
Hou Jing was hunting outside the hunting grounds when his general Guo Yuanjian suddenly rode into the hunting grounds and said to Hou Jing:
"Commander-in-Chief! The Baima Di people have rebelled!"
Hou Jing had already aimed at a roe deer. His general Guo Yuanjian said that the Baima Di people were plotting a rebellion, but Hou Jing had his bow fully drawn but was not at all confused.
Guo Yuanjian rode his horse into the hunting ground, disturbing the musk deer that Hou Jing was aiming at, but Hou Jing more decisively released the bowstring, and the arrow pierced the musk deer.
Hou Jing's men rushed over on horseback to grab the spoils. Hou Jing then looked at Guo Yuanjian and said:
"Why are you panicking? Who is the leader of the Baima Di people? How many soldiers does he lead?"
When it comes to fighting a war, experience is very important.
Many legendary generals often suffered defeats when they first started out.
Famous generals just grow faster than others.
Hou Jing has fought many battles with Su Ze, and is now a completely different person than when he first left the Six Garrisons.
He knew very well that the Baima Di people had suddenly rebelled. If he showed panic, it would definitely affect the morale of the surrounding troops.
The calmer you appear, the more at ease your subordinates will be.
Yuanjian Guo said:
"The one who caused the rebellion is Yang Shaoxing, the leader of the Baima Di people who caused the rebellion 20 years ago. The spies reported that there are about 2,000 Baima Di people who followed Yang Shaoxing to cause the rebellion."
Hearing this, Hou Jing burst into laughter. He raised his whip and cursed:
"A mere two thousand people scared you like this?"
As Hou Jing laughed, the troops around him also laughed.
Although Hou Jing had only 500 cavalrymen, and together with the county soldiers in Wuxing City, the total number was less than 2,000, but everyone felt that the 2,000 White Horse Di people who came down from Qiuchi were just here to deliver food.
When it comes to fighting a war, both generals and soldiers need to be upgraded.
The reason why the Northern Wei imperial guards declined so quickly was because of the long-term lack of combat.
In fact, at the beginning of the chaotic times, both the generals and the rebels were very weak.
The heroes of the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period often suffered defeats when they first fought against the Yellow Turban Army.
By the end of the Three Kingdoms period, less well-known generals in history were able to command tens of thousands of troops.
These all require a lot of "experience" to upgrade.
The army under Su Ze happened to fight several major tough battles during this period.
Su Ze defeated the Rouran in Liuzhen and Pingcheng, fought against the Tuyuhun in Hezhou, and fought against the Gaoche in Liangzhou.
After that, he defeated Mozhe Niansheng in Longxi County and Mozhe Dadi in Liangzhou.
Each of these battles was a tough one, and Su Ze won every one of them.
Among the 500 elite cavalry led by Hou Jing, 200 of them were his subordinates, which were the soldiers awarded to him by Su Ze.
The remaining three hundred people were the light cavalry that Su Ze left for him. They were also elite soldiers who had experienced several battles.
What were those white horse tribes on the mountain? How could they fight against this experienced cavalry?
Hou Jing was even a little angry that this little Yang Shaoxing had disturbed his interest in hunting.
In this case, the only way for the White Horse Di people to relieve their fatigue is to go hunting.
Hou Jing decisively summoned his troops. After confirming that Yang Shaoxing had only brought two thousand people, he decisively led his men to leave Wuxing City and headed straight for Yang Shaoxing's army.
There is no need to elaborate on the process and results. Hou Jing's 500 cavalrymen attacked the army that Yang Shaoxing had just brought down from Qiuchi Mountain. Before Yang Shaoxing could react, his troops had been dispersed by Hou Jing's cavalry.
Yang Shaoxing was horrified. He tried to flee back to Qiuchi Mountain, but found that Hou Jing's cavalry had blocked the way back to Qiuchi.
Why does Su Ze still have such an army under his command! ?
Yang Shaoxing really couldn't understand it. Hou Jing's charge reminded him of the group of Yulin knights led by Yang Zhi, the governor of Liangzhou twenty years ago.
But it was obvious that the Yulin Knights of Luoyang had already fallen, and the soldiers from the prefectures and counties he saw along the way were even more useless. How come the soldiers under Su Ze were so elite?
No, aren’t you just a small General Anxi?
Why are you so fierce?
While Yang Shaoxing was stunned, Hou Jing's general Song Zixian had already rushed into the army on horseback and rushed directly to Yang Shaoxing's vicinity.
When Song Zixian saw Yang Shaoxing dressed in luxurious clothes, he knew he had caught a big fish and rushed over on his horse.
Song Zixian was also a soldier brought by Hou Jing from the Six Garrisons. He had been following Hou Jing since he was a child. As a low-level soldier in the Six Garrisons, Song Zixian had a common characteristic of the people in the Six Garrisons - ruthlessness.
This kind of cruelty is not only towards the enemy, but also towards oneself.
It's not that the people of Liuzhen are like this by nature, but that people who are not ruthless enough cannot survive in Liuzhen.
You have to fight for pastures, food, weapons, and everything if you want to survive.
In the Six Garrisons, no matter whether they were soldiers from the lower-level tribes or the descendants of powerful generals like the Heba brothers and the Yuwen brothers, they all had to face various competitions.
This is also the reason why the martial virtues of the Six Garrisons were able to cover this land and did not fade until the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, Song Zixian was also a confidant who followed Hou Jing to defect to Southern Liang. During the Hou Jing Rebellion, it was Song Zixian who led the troops and defeated the Jiankang defenders many times, and finally took the lead in attacking Shitou City. Song Zixian rushed to Yang Shaoxing in no time, and frightened Yang Shaoxing so much that he raised his hands and surrendered.
This rebellion, which was almost a farce, was easily put down by Hou Jing.
However, although Hou Jing was unruly when fighting, he did not dare to be unruly in front of Su Ze. He first asked Su Ze to send military judges in the army to record and count the merits, and then recorded the detailed combat process and sent a letter of victory to report the results to Su Ze in Nanzheng.
But Hou Jing was unwilling to sit idle. He heard that there were nearly 50,000 Baima Di people scattered in the mountains of Qiuchi Mountain, and Hou Jing started to think about these people.
Hou Jing interrogated the captives and collected information about Qiuchi Mountain. He soon came up with a plan to encircle and wipe out the Baima Di tribe near Qiuchi Mountain, and continued to send people to deliver it to Su Ze.
Hou Jing sent wave after wave of envoys to ask Su Ze for battle, and Su Ze's envoys finally crossed the Qinling Mountains and arrived in the Guanzhong area.
This was the second wave of envoys. After the first wave of envoys were detained by Xiao Baoyin, Su Ze sent envoys to Chang'an again to report the victory.
Su Liu ([Ordinary Golden Sword Messenger]) is the chief envoy of this mission.
After Yangping Pass was breached, Su Ze immediately dispatched Su Liu, with Mozhe Dati's head, to report the victory to the Xitaoxingtai near Chang'an.
The wooden box in his hand contained Mozhe Dati's head.
Although the head had been processed and the box was filled with lime and Mozhe Dati's head was coated with raw lacquer, after such a long time, a foul smell still came from the wooden box.
Su Liu held Su Ze's talisman, identified the direction, and began to walk towards Chang'an.
Su Liu and his group originally brought a lot of Tuyuhun horses. Although this kind of horse is not good at cavalry combat, it is good at walking on mountain roads and can move normally in high altitude areas.
However, Su Liu had never expected that the Tangluo Road, which was once an important passage connecting Guanzhong and Hanzhong, had become so dilapidated and desolate. In many places, the plank roads had completely decayed. Su Liu had no choice but to abandon his horse and rely on himself to cross the Tangluo Road carrying his luggage.
However, although the Tangluo Road is difficult to travel, it is also the closest passage connecting Hanzhong and Guanzhong.
Moreover, compared to the Chencang Road that Hou Gang took from Yangping Pass, the Tangluo Road was a military passage during the Three Kingdoms period. If it was repaired, it would be easier to march through than the Chencang Road.
Even the current Northern Wei court is probably unable to repair the Tangluo Road.
Su Liu led the team forward, and after entering Guanzhong, the scene he saw was much more prosperous than that of Hanzhong.
Compared with the Longxi County with its numerous ravines and gullies, the Guanzhong Plain is even more prosperous.
Su Liu looked at the land greedily. The eight hundred miles of Qinchuan was indeed the foundation of the kingship!
In fact, as long as there is no war in a place, it only takes one or two generations to prosper.
This is what Guanzhong is like.
Nearly a hundred years ago, after Guanzhong fell into the hands of the Northern Wei Dynasty, there has been little war here.
The most recent major chaos in Guanzhong was when Liu Yu led an expedition to the north to Chang'an.
After Liu Yu recaptured Chang'an, he had no choice but to lead his troops back south because his important minister Liu Muzhi, who was left behind by him, died of illness, leaving his son Liu Yizhen to guard Chang'an.
Helian Bobo's adviser Wang Maide saw an opportunity, and the civil and military officials who stayed in Chang'an had an internal conflict. Shen Tianzi killed Wang Zhen'e, Wang Xiu killed Shen Tianzi, and Liu Yizhen killed Wang Xiu again.
Helian Bobo sent troops to cut off Qingni in the south and Tongguan in the east, and led a large army to occupy Guanzhong.
But Helian Bobo did not have the last laugh. Shortly after Helian Bobo's death, the Northern Wei defeated the Huxia regime he established and seized the Guanzhong area.
This was the last major battle in Guanzhong. After that, the Northern Wei Dynasty took over Hedong and Guanzhong and began the process of swallowing up the north.
Nourished by the Wei River, many tributaries such as the Laoshui River and the Bashui River were formed in the Guanzhong Plain. These tributaries nourished the land and irrigated the surrounding farmland.
And this time, due to Su Ze's restraint, the Qinzhou Rebellion was never able to advance into the Guanzhong area.
Along the way there are interconnected farmlands and forests of fruit and mulberry trees.
But among these beautiful scenes, Su Liu also saw some discordant scenes.
The clerks were carrying the list and recruiting people from house to house. They came to a village called Sanchang where Su and Liu stayed.
The household consists of an elderly couple, a daughter-in-law and a grandson.
The families around here are similar to this one. There are almost no young and strong people to be seen, and the people who farm are the elderly and women.
This old man is also the neighborhood leader of the five nearby households, which means his house is the largest. However, the house is now in a state of lack of repair, perhaps because it was wealthy in the past.
Su Liu took out a bag of money and asked the old man to boil some hot water. They prepared to stay overnight in the village and go to Chang'an tomorrow.
The old man was very enthusiastic and even boiled water for everyone to wash their feet. But just when Su and Liu had finished washing up, they encountered the county clerks and party leaders coming to conscript people.
What puzzled Su Liu was that upon hearing the news that the clerks and party leaders were holding military orders to arrest people, the old man of the house where he was staying actually tried to escape by climbing over the wall at night.
Su Liu saw that he was already very old, so he quickly pulled him aside and asked:
"Father, according to the military law of our dynasty, anyone over fifty will be removed from the military books. Why are you running away?"
Unexpectedly, the old man cried miserably:
"I originally had two sons. One was stationed in Chang'an as a prefecture soldier, and the other was recruited by the Yuan governor at the beginning of the year and stationed in Chencang."
"We lost contact with both of my sons after they joined the army. We don't know whether they are alive or dead, but my family's name is still on the military records of the government office."
Su and Liu were dejected. All the soldiers from Chang'an followed Cui Yanbo to the war. There was no news about the old man's eldest son. He was either captured by the Qinzhou rebels or died in the battle.
The soldiers who followed Yuan Xiuyi to Chencang were even more miserable. After Chencang was broken, almost all the government troops were massacred by the rebels.
Su Liu said:
"How can this be justified? Didn't Emperor Xiaowen appoint the three chiefs to evenly distribute taxes and labor service? Why is it always your family that provides the men?"
The old man cried without saying a word, but when he heard a knock on the door, he was so scared that he immediately climbed over the wall and ran away.
The party leader held a military book in his hand and shouted the old man's name. The clerk who came in looked at Su Liu with a frown.
When Su Liu's companions gathered with weapons, the clerks left the house.
But they still stood outside the door with torches in hand and shouted:
"Who are you? This old man Liu has two sons in the army. Are you deserters?"
The clerk immediately accused him of being a deserter. This clerk had evil intentions. However, Su Liu naturally ignored these clerks who were arresting people. He showed Su Ze's seal and said:
"I am an envoy under General Anxi's command, and I am going to the Western Expedition Camp to report the victory to General Xiao."
After seeing the imperial seal, these clerks immediately became much more respectful. They were just clerks in the county government, and General Anxi Su Ze was a very distant figure to them.
The other party softened, but Su Liu hardened up. He walked out the door and asked:
"This family already has two sons in the army, why is their name still on the military books?"
(End of this chapter)