Chapter 241 General Pingxi!
Several clerks and the party leader looked at each other, and finally a short, fat, vicious clerk stood up and said to Su Liu in a gloomy tone:
"Your Excellency should rest well here tonight. This is a military order issued by the Western Expeditionary Administration. It is better not to ask too many questions."
Su Liu heard the threat in the other party's words, and he sneered:
"Since you have military books, show them to me."
The party leader took two steps back and Su Liu said:
"There's none?"
The party leader glanced at the clerk in charge, who showed a ferocious expression, drew his sword and stepped forward, blocking Su Liu and said:
"Why are you asking so many questions about military secrets? If you are General Anxi's envoy, why don't you stay at the post station? Are you a spy for the enemy army?"
Su Liu laughed and said:
"Forging military documents is a serious crime. It seems that you can't produce them! Catch them!"
The soldiers around Su Liu were all elite troops assigned to him by Su Ze, including two followers from the [Northern Palace Soldiers] series.
One of the [Northern Army] directly drew out his broadsword, grinned, and attacked directly at the vital points.
Although these clerks are troublesome in the local area, they are nothing compared to the veteran soldiers who have fought on the battlefield.
Those who have survived several wars have had their mentality and killing skills honed to the extreme, not to mention that the [Northern Mansion Soldiers] themselves are elite infantry combatants.
If Su Liu had not shouted "spare their lives", these clerks would have been killed on the spot.
After easily disarming several people, Su Liu snatched the military book from the party leader's arms. He did not find the old man's name on the book. He looked at the party leader and said:
"This household's name isn't on the military books, why are we still recruiting soldiers?"
The party leader was intimidated by Su Liu's momentum and had to say:
"Someone from our party 'donated' the tax exemption quota, so we arrested the male members of his family to make up the number."
As soon as Su Liu heard it, he understood the key.
Emperor Xiaowen's three-chief system was itself a system that combined military and civilian functions, and was the origin of the later Sui and Tang military system.
When the government granted land, in addition to rent and taxes, the most important thing was the obligation to serve in the army.
Five households form a neighborhood, and one household is chosen as the neighborhood head. When the country needs help, the neighborhood head's family is required to send male members to fight in the war.
The remaining four households had to provide the male with weapons, war horses, and accompanying food.
At least this is fair in terms of system design.
However, Guanzhong had recruited soldiers twice. The first time was when Cui Yanbo led the army, and Guanzhong recruited soldiers to follow the expedition. This time, they suffered a great defeat.
The second time was when Yuan Xiuyi, the governor of Yongzhou, guarded Chencang and recruited young men from Guanzhong.
After two recruitments and two major defeats, the military strength of Guanzhong had been drained, and the military equipment that the five households could gather could no longer be raised.
The wealthy families in the party were unwilling to contribute men and money, so they bribed the party leader and the conscription clerks. These clerks then found the old man, a family with no male support, and forced him to join the army.
Anyway, all the superiors want is a number of people, so just report it.
The result was what Su Liu saw.
After hearing the noise, the old woman of the family looked at the bound clerk and party leader with trembling eyes.
She had heard the conversation just now, but the passing envoy had to leave eventually, while her family had to continue to survive on this land.
After the distinguished envoy leaves, my family will surely be subjected to crazy revenge.
Thinking of this, the old woman sat on the ground in despair. If she had known earlier, she would have let the old man join the army.
When Su Liu saw this scene, he also understood the old woman's concerns. This was a problem of the entire system and it could not be solved by just standing up for justice once or twice.
After I leave, the fate of this family will probably be even more miserable.
In other words, after losing the adult male, the tragic fate of this family has been determined.
Su Liu thought for a moment and said to the old woman:
"I am the messenger of General Anxi. I am in need of a few servants for the journey. Are you willing to follow me to Chang'an to report the victory and then return to Hanzhong?"
The old man who had climbed over the wall had already returned to the outside. He had been in the army when he was young and had some experience. He knew that if he stayed in the village, his family would be wiped out, and his widowed wife and young grandson would become slaves. He simply said with a cruel heart:
"I do!"
After saying this, Su Liu ignored the party leader and the clerks, tied them up and made them kneel at the door. After resting for a night, he stole their horses and mules and left with the old man and his family.
After this brief episode, Su and Liu no longer sought to rest at civilian households along the way, but instead stopped at military inns to pass on messages. Three days later, they met Xiao Baoyin's Western Expedition Office.
When they arrived at the Western Expedition Camp and showed the token, Su Liu did not hand over the victory report and Mozhe Dati's head.
Because the last time Su Ze reported victory to Xiao Baoyin, it fell on deaf ears. Su Ze also learned through the system that his messenger had been tortured and the victory report was suppressed by Xiao Baoyin.
Regardless of whether Xiao Baoyin really doubted his and Yang Kan's military achievements, or was trying to suppress him, if Su Liu asked for a meeting normally as he did last time, I'm afraid the outcome would be the same as last time.
Even if he saw the heads on the Mozhe dike, Xiao Baoyin could still suspect that Su Ze was using fake heads to fill in the numbers.
The last time the victory was reported, Xiao Baoyin met with Su Ze's envoy during a secret meeting with his confidants.
Xiao Baoyin easily blocked the news and secretly imprisoned Su Ze's messenger.
So Su Liu changed his strategy this time. He used a large sum of money to bribe Xiao Baoyin's confidant to pass the message on during Xiao Baoyin's military meeting.
In front of all the soldiers, Xiao Baoyin had no way to suppress it anymore.
This trick really worked. In less than half a day, Su Liu was summoned by Xiao Baoyin.
When Xiao Baoyin received the message, he was holding a military meeting.
After Liu Kai led his troops to the battle, he did not have a smooth journey.
The contradiction between the people of Kanto and Kansai has long been made public. Letting the people of Kanto take charge and driving the people of Kansai to fight and risk their lives is a very abstract thing.
Before Liu Kai and his soldiers arrived in Qizhou, they encountered a camp roar.
Today's military meeting was another battle of quibbles.
The people of Kanto accused the people of Kansai of not observing military discipline and called them crude Kansai warriors.
The people of Guanxi accused the people of Guandong of being only good at empty talk. The last time Liu Kai followed Cui Yanbo into battle, he fled before the battle began. He is not qualified to be a general at all.
In addition, there were also various problems such as material allocation, logistical supply, and troop replenishment, all of which required Xiao Baoyin to hold a meeting to resolve. The envoy who informed Su Ze of the victory was outside the tent, and seeing the eyes of the generals and counselors, Xiao Baoyin had no choice but to let Su Liu in.
As the government troops "recaptured" Chencang, the connection between Guanzhong and Liangzhou was being restored.
There were already rumors of a great victory in Liangzhou in the army, and Xiao Baoyin knew that the situation could no longer be suppressed.
The scene suddenly became quiet. Xianyang Governor Wei Sui watched a middle-aged man with extraordinary demeanor walk into Xiao Baoyin's tent, crossed his arms and saluted, saying:
"Su Liu, the messenger under General Anxi, is following the order of General Su to report the victory to Commander-in-Chief Xiao."
Xiao Baoyin was somewhat unhappy. He instinctively resisted the good news from Liangzhou. Su Ze reported the victory to him again and again, which made him very angry.
You are just a common soldier. I gave you the command of the war on the Western Front so that you could hold back the rebels there, not really fight them.
Su Liu did not even look at Xiao Baoyin's expression. He held up the wooden box and said to Xiao Baoyin loudly:
"General Yang Kan, the acting doctor, shot and killed the bandit leader Mozhe Dati in Liangzhou. This is Mozhe Dati's head."
"General Su Ze of Anxi, together with the Liangzhou Governor Fu Shuyan's troops, completely wiped out the rebels in the west of Qinzhou, killing 5,000 enemies and destroying 30,000!"
"This is the flag of the Qinzhou rebels."
Su Liu ordered his men to unfold the captured military flags. Looking at the torn flags covered in blood and the head of Mozhe Dati in the wooden box, the generals in the camp were stunned.
Wei Sui stared at Mozhe Dati's head. Before he took office as the prefect of Xianyang, he had served in Qinzhou and had also seen Mozhe Dati.
Although the human head in the wooden box had been coated with raw lacquer because the lime had been dehydrated, the appearance of the Mozhe Dam was still recognizable.
Wei Sui had talked about the rumors about Liangzhou with his nephew Wei Xiaokuan yesterday. He himself did not believe that Su Ze and Yang Kan could defeat Mozhe Dike.
Mozhe Tiansheng, the son of Mozhe Dati, defeated Xiao Baoyin's army on the eastern front. If he had not taken the initiative to withdraw from Chencang, the army would have headed straight for Chang'an.
However, his nephew Wei Xiaokuan had a different opinion. Wei Xiaokuan believed that Mo Zhe Tiansheng's sudden retreat must have been due to a major change in the rear.
If Su Ze defeated Mo Zhe Dam in Liangzhou, then everything would make sense. Mo Zhe was naturally busy going back to stabilize his old nest in Qinzhou.
Now that he had seen Mozhe Dati’s head, Wei Sui finally believed that the rumors about Liangzhou were true!
Wei Sui secretly glanced at Xiao Baoyin, and as expected, the commander-in-chief of the Western Expedition Office had a bad expression on his face.
Su Ze's victory report was a slap in the face!
Xiao Baoyin fought on the front line for more than a year, but achieved nothing. The only thing he did was to recapture Chencang, which he had lost.
Su Ze, a detachment abandoned in the west, and Yang Kan, who was squeezed out to Liangzhou, actually killed the bandit leader Mozhe Dati?
And annihilated 30,000 enemies, achieving the greatest victory since the Western Route Army suppressed the rebellion?
Where can Xiao Baoyin put his face?
But this time it was an open military discussion, Xiao Baoyin could not lose his temper, he could only hold back his anger and say:
"Wait for this governor to send someone to Liangzhou to verify the victory report, and then submit a report to ask for merit for General Su."
Until now, Xiao Baoyin is still dragging his feet. He firmly holds on to his authority as the Grand Commander of the Western Expedition Camp. Any merit that has not been confirmed by me is not a merit!
But Su Liu didn't care about Xiao Baoyin.
Originally, Su Ze wanted to get promoted, but he couldn't count on Xiao Baoyin.
Su Ze was the Anxi General of the imperial court. He was not a subordinate of Xiao Baoyin, and his promotion was not under Xiao Baoyin's control.
Now, relying on Princess Chenliu, Su Ze has established connections in Luoyang. With Yuan Yi as a fully automatic official position wholesale machine, as long as Xiao Baoyin gives the right gifts, he will not be able to suppress Su Ze's military achievements and promotion.
In fact, Su Ze has already gained control of Liangzhou and does not need Xiao Baoyin's confirmation.
The reason why envoys were repeatedly sent to Guanzhong to report victory was for the sake of influence.
This is Su Ze telling the people of Guanxi that they have other choices besides Xiao Baoyin!
As expected, after Su Liu finished speaking, all the Guanxi scholars present were shaken.
Wei Sui has been thinking about whether to send some of his nephews and nephews to Liangzhou to give the family a new option?
At this time, Xiao Baoyin finally realized that this was the purpose of Su Liu's public victory announcement. However, he could not get angry and could only say aggrievedly:
"This governor has something important to discuss. Please put down your things and leave."
Just when Xiao Baoyin was about to deal with the matter calmly and suppress the heat of the matter, suddenly another guard reported that an envoy from the court had arrived outside the camp.
An envoy from the court?
Xiao Baoyin quickly asked someone to summon him. Xiao Baoyin recognized the eunuch as the adopted son of Grand Chamberlain Liu Teng. He thought it was an imperial edict for him, and was about to receive it.
When Empress Dowager Hu was in power, order was maintained in the court and the envoys sent to announce the imperial edicts were still civil servants.
After King Jiangyang came to power, he stopped pretending completely. The eunuchs traveled to various places with imperial edicts in their hands, demanding bribes along the way and even collecting hard-earned money before reading the edicts.
Xiao Baoyin knew the rules, and his personal guards were preparing to hand over the gold cake.
Unexpectedly, this eunuch said:
"General Xiao, this is not an imperial edict for you. It is an imperial edict from the court to General Su Ze of Anxi."
Su Ze again?
Xiao Baoyin just felt that he was "destined to be with Su Ze", why was there news related to Su Ze all day long?
However, this eunuch was close to King Yuanyi of Jiangyang and Grand Chamberlain Liu Teng, so Xiao Baoyin still asked:
"Su Ze is in Liangzhou now. If it is a military order from the court, can I send it to him through the military messenger?"
Xiao Baoyin thought that the order issued by the court to Su Ze was the same as the one issued to him before, which was also an order urging the use of troops.
The eunuch forced a smile and said:
"This mission requires me to do it myself. This is the imperial decree for Su Ze's promotion."
"promotion?"
Xiao Baoyin already regretted it. He had lost his composure too many times today and should not have summoned Su Liu and the eunuch in public.
Xiao Baoyin also couldn't understand how he could have been promoted by the court when he had suppressed Su Ze's contributions and never reported them to him.
Could it be that he has secretly gotten in touch with Jiangyang King Yuan Yi?
Just as Xiao Baoyin was about to end the military meeting, Su Liu walked up to the eunuch and said respectfully:
"My Lord, I am General Su's messenger. I have just come to the Executive Office from Liangzhou to report the victory. Let us escort you to Liangzhou."
The eunuch saw that Su Liu was well-behaved and smart, and had excellent conversation. Seeing the strong guards behind Su Liu, he was willing to go with him and nodded in agreement.
Su Liu said again:
"May I ask the palace commander what position the court will give my general?"
After saying this, Su Liu stuffed a gold cake into the hands of the eunuch, who immediately stretched out his tone and said:
"General Su has made great contributions in resisting the bandits, so the court promoted him to the rank of General of Pacification of the West, and established a government to command the military forces of Hezhou, Liangzhou, and Longxi County."
Everyone present was in doubt again. General Pingxi could already recruit twenty officials, and with the power of the Imperial Guards, he could appoint and dismiss temporary local officials during wartime. This meant that Su Ze already had a lot of positions in his hands.
The Guanxi soldiers, including Wei Sui, all turned their eyes to the area controlled by Su Ze.
Hezhou and Liangzhou are indeed remote, but Liangzhou and Longxi County are not far away.
Moreover, following Su Ze can also help you gain military merit, which is much better than following Xiao Baoyin and suffering defeat.
Wei Sui has decided to send a group of family members to Liangzhou to take a look. If Su Ze is really worthy of serving, then he will arrange for a group of family members to serve under him!
(End of this chapter)