Chapter 273 Houmo Chen Family
When Li Xian saw the horses brought back by Su Hui (a Uighur horse slave who was good at judging horses), he understood why Su Ze and Su Liang lost their composure.
Su Ze looked at the Guligan horses and walked forward to stroke the shiny mane of the largest horse. It was indeed a breed of horse that was highly praised by Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, in later generations.
Li Shimin was good at judging horses. He was particularly good at cavalry combat throughout his life. He conducted detailed evaluations on various horses and could be said to be the top KOL in the war horse evaluation area.
He once commented on Guliganma Road:
"The bones are large and thick, the mane is high and broad, the eyes are like hanging mirrors, the head is like a sideways brick, the legs are like a deer but less round, the neck is thinner than a phoenix, the direction of self-vigorous driving, the nose is large and the breathing is sparse, there is no lack of air."
Only after seeing the Guligan horse with his own eyes did Su Ze feel that this horse was completely different in size from ordinary war horses!
Only such a strong horse can bear the weight of armored cavalry and charge with these iron lumps on its back!
Armored cavalry are the heavy tanks on the battlefield, and horsepower is an important criterion for determining their combat effectiveness!
Su Ze quickly asked Su Hui, who looked like a Uighur:
“How many horses did you bring back?”
Su Hui said proudly:
"My Lord, I brought back 100 Guligan horses and 300 top-quality Uighur horses this time!"
Hearing this number, Su Ze couldn't help but be overjoyed. Su Hui's purchase of horses this time had far exceeded his expectations!
Li Xian had never seen such a majestic beast before, and asked Su Ze:
"General, is this a Ferghana horse?"
As a general, who doesn't love BMW?
This is just like in later generations, which army general does not like good tanks, or which navy general does not like good aircraft carriers.
Seeing such a majestic horse like Guligan Horse, Li Xian's eyes lit up.
Not only Li Xian, but other captains under Su Ze's command also surrounded him without regard for etiquette. They had never seen such a majestic horse before.
The more Su Ze looked at it, the more he liked it. He asked Su Hui again, "Have you reached the vast sea?"
Su Hui nodded and said:
"I went north from the Western Regions and finally arrived at the Vast Ocean. When I arrived, the Vast Ocean was dark but not daytime, with sunlight only visible for a short period of time. That tribe raised horses on the shore of the Vast Ocean."
We have entered the Arctic Circle and are seeing the polar night.
Su Ze opened the map and realized that Su Hui had walked so far.
"Does that tribe still have horses?"
Su Hui said:
"These tribes on the edge of the vast sea are very good at raising horses. They live in the forest on the edge of the vast sea and make a living by raising horses and hunting."
"They are also good at raising a large dog with white fur. This dog can survive in the snow and help them hunt. The slave even brought one back."
After saying that, Su Ze saw the silly white dog that he often saw in his previous life. Su Ze now understood that the tribe that Su Hui encountered should be the Ural people living in Northeast Asia.
The Ural people are widely distributed near the Arctic Circle. The language they speak is called Samoyedic. This dog is the Samoyed, which is very popular among dog owners in later generations.
The Ural people were Siberian ancestors who lived earlier than the Slavs. It turns out that they were the Hanhai people recorded in Chinese historical documents.
Su Hui continued:
"In addition to these Hanhai people, I also met several Uighur tribes on the grassland. They are also willing to sell horses to us."
Su Ze looked at the Uighur horse again.
The Uighurs were not at peace under the rule of the Rouran.
Uighur, also called Huihe.
The Rouran people's rule on the grassland was not stable. First, the Gaoche people competed with them and became the vice king of the grassland.
Within the Rouran tribe, a tribe called the Turks was also gradually growing stronger.
In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, the Turks destroyed the Rouran Khanate thirty years later and became the overlord of the grassland during the Sui and Tang dynasties.
After the rise of the Turks, the Uighurs, as a vassal tribe of the Turks, also began to become gradually powerful.
After that, the Uighurs destroyed the Turks and became the new overlords of the grassland.
During the An-Shi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty borrowed troops from the Uighurs and relied on the Uighur cavalry to recapture Chang'an.
Emperor Suzong of Tang promised that "on the day we conquer the city, the land and the common people will belong to the Tang, and the gold, silk, and women will all belong to the Uighurs." The Uighur cavalry wanted to plunder Chang'an as a trophy, but were finally persuaded by the crown prince at the time. They exchanged the looting of Luoyang for Chang'an, and Chang'an was not robbed by the Uighurs.
"Uighur clothing and Uighur horses", Uighur culture was once integrated into the Central Plains culture. The Uighurs were good at raising horses, so the Rouran people now enslaved the Uighurs to raise horses for them.
The Uighur horse is not as tall as the Guligan horse, and is far inferior to the Guligan horse in explosive power, but this type of horse has better endurance and is easier to take care of than the Guligan horse, making it a good source of military horses.
The follower summoned by Su Ze is a follower from the [Uighur Horse Slave] series, and the followers summoned by the system all have skills and memories that match their background identities.
For example, the egret messengers summoned by Su Ze were all very familiar with the Egret Cao, a secret department of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
Su Hui knew the locations of many Uighur tribes, could speak Uighur and understood Uighur customs, so he was able to trade with the Uighurs smoothly.
Su Ze asked again:
"What do these Uighurs want?"
Su replied, "Iron."
as predicted.
The rise of the grassland tribes was not a sudden mechanical deification. They continuously accumulated strength and finally devoured the original overlords.
The present-day Turks are a tribe that specialized in making iron tools for the Rouran people.
Therefore, the Turks mastered the most important iron smelting technology in the "Iron Age" and quickly became the new overlord after the decline of the Rouran people.
The same was true of the Uighurs, who were horse slaves of the Rouran and also wanted to master iron tools.
Su Ze thought of the current Rouran Khan, who was Princess Shouyang who had "borrowed her seed" from him. He didn't know whether his son would be able to become the Khan of Rouran if history had continued to develop.
But that’s a matter for the future. Su Ze needs a horse now.
Some horses were sent to ranches in Hexi for breeding and raising. Generally speaking, a war horse could go to the battlefield when it was at least three years old.
However, it still takes too long for war horses to go into estrus and mate, and then to breed and produce.
Therefore, Su Ze is currently planning to adopt a two-pronged approach of purchasing and raising horses, and try to introduce some excellent war horses through trade.
The first phase of the Six Garrisons Rebellion had been going on for half a year. Li Chong's army had already arrived in Pingcheng, and the war to quell the rebellion was about to enter the next phase.
Su Ze felt a sense of urgency, and he prepared to summon a few more followers from the [Uighur Horse Slave] series and ask them to continue to search for Uighur tribes on the grassland to buy horses.
Then Su Ze immediately sent Su Hui to continue to the vast sea to find the Ural tribe to buy Guligan horses.
-
Zhengguang two years, August 25th.
Li Chong rested in Pingcheng for ten days. The scouts in the front finally reported that Wuchuan had not rebelled yet and was still in the hands of Wuchuan commander Lou Poqiang.
When Li Chong got the news, he immediately announced that he would march towards Baidao. Li Chong's army marched to Baidao City, which was the entrance of Hengzhou into Baidao, and Su Ze had built a Jingguan here.
The northwest region is dry, and the Jingguan built by Su Zelei has weathered away. When Li Chong saw the Jingguan, he sighed again, thinking how great it would be if Su Ze was still around.
He ordered his son Li Shengui to lead the Xiangzhou soldiers to repair Baidao City and station troops in Baidao City to support the main army.
After Li Chong's army crossed the Baidao and met the reinforcement troops from Wuchuan, Li Chong finally breathed a sigh of relief. The Baidao was still controlled by the government troops, so he still had a way to retreat.
He also ordered Zhang Shijun, the governor of Jizhou, to lead the Jizhou army to stay in Wuchuan and guard the exit of Baidao.
Next, Li Chong did not choose to go to Huaishuo Town to rescue Yang Jun, but instead took the armies of Anfeng King Yuan Yanming and Guangling King Yuan Gong and headed towards Wuyuan near Woye Town.
After Li Chong learned about the situation in the Six Garrisons, he made the same judgment as Heba Duba and others.
Today, the rebels in the Six Garrisons are basically a group of loose sand. Apart from the leaders of the uprising, Po Liu and Han Baling, there is only one Wei Ke Gu who still has prestige in the northern border. As for the other rebel leaders, no one, let alone Li Chong, has ever heard of them even in the Six Garrisons.
So the first Six Garrisons Rebellion was basically a chaotic situation.
Po Liu Han Baling was a very charismatic leader, but because of this, his disciples and followers all put themselves in a low position and placed themselves in the position of servants of the "true king".
Li Chong knew very well that it would be almost impossible to use the troops he had to put out the "fire" that swept across the six towns.
All he could do was to extinguish the "source of fire" which was Po Liu Han Baling.
As long as Po Liu Han Baling was killed, the other rebels in the Six Garrisons would be pacified through negotiation, or the military commanders and generals who had surrendered in the Six Garrisons would be recruited and mobilized to quell the rebellion.
Anfeng King Yuan Yanming agreed with this plan.
His series of adventures in North Xuzhou eventually won victory, drove away the northward army of Southern Liang, and regained the land of North Xuzhou.
Therefore, Anfeng King Yuan Yanming's self-confidence swelled and he was willing to follow Li Chong to take risks.
However, Prince Yuan Gong of Guangling expressed his opposition.
Po Liu Han Baling stationed his troops in Wuyuan, but Wuchuan and Huaishuo were all surrounded by rebels. Directly attacking Wuyuan would mean completely abandoning the rear food supply route.
Moreover, Wei Kegu, who was besieging Huaishuo, was not far from Wuyuan. Once the two rebel forces joined forces, the army in Li Chong's hands would not be enough.
Prince Yuan Gong of Guangling believed that they should seek stability, first relieve the siege of Huaishuo, then stabilize the food route of Huaishuo-Wuchuan-Baidao-Pingcheng, and then slowly confront the rebels. This was the best strategy.
In fact, there is nothing wrong with Li Chong and Yuan Gong’s opinions.
Li Chong was urged many times by the court along the way, and he wanted to know the difficulties the court was facing in supplying food and fodder.
In recent years, the Northern Wei Dynasty can be said to have been at war year after year.
There was the rebellion of the evil monk Faqing in Jizhou, the rebellion of Hou Gang in Guanzhong, Northern Xuzhou had just fought a great battle with Southern Liang, and last year's white disaster also affected farming in Youzhou and Jizhou. The food supply for the court was already very difficult.
Li Chong was squeezed out to lead the army. The ruling King of Jiangyang Yuan Yi was very wary of him, otherwise he would not have sent two princes to serve as his deputies.
Li Chong had no choice but to ignore the opposition and make this risky plan.
-
Zhengguang two years, September 12th.
A masked messenger rushed into the camp where Wei Kegu besieged Huaishuo.
The masked messenger took out the token and was led all the way to Wei Kegu.
After verifying the identity, the messenger unfolded the veil, revealing the face of a Qihu man, and said to Wei Kegu:
"General Qu, according to our spies in the imperial army, Li Chong's army has already set out for Wuyuan, preparing to fight the True King."
After Wei Kegu got the information, he walked back and forth in the military camp for several steps before he stopped and said:
"How is the army led by Li Chong deployed?"
The messenger elaborated:
"Li Chong led the troops of Anfeng Prince Yuan Yanming and Guangling Prince Yuan Gong to Wuyuan."
"Li Chong's son Li Shengui guards Baidao City."
"Jizhou Governor Zhang Shijun stayed in Wuchuan."
Wei Kegu's eyes lit up and he said:
"Zhang Shijun and Li Shengui, two young men, are left behind to guard the important roads. Li Chong is getting old and confused. Great things will happen!"
Wei Kegu asked the envoy to withdraw. He called his military school and ordered them on the spot to abandon the siege of Huaishuo and attack Wuchuan directly.
At the same time, in Wuchuan City, the town commander Lou Poqiang was also in a bad mood.
Zhang Shijun came from a high-class family and was appointed as the governor of a large province at a young age. He was also the representative of the local wealthy families in Jizhou. He was domineering towards the town commander Lou Poqiang and treated him like a domestic slave.
It would have been fine if Lou Poqiang himself had been humiliated, but the Jizhou tyrants brought by Zhang Shijun were indeed too inhumane.
After Zhang Shijun arrived in Wuchuan, he did not rush to strengthen the city defenses. Instead, he immediately started the human trafficking business. He packed up all the captured rebels and handed them over to the nobles of Jizhou to be returned to Hedong for sale.
Li Shengui, who was sent by Li Chong to guard Baidao City, also happily joined this trade network.
Zhang Shijun allowed his men to capture slaves, and even townspeople who had not participated in the rebellion were captured by them. Even the craftsmen in the city were all captured as rebels.
Zhang Shijun, on the other hand, behaved like a graceful and elegant nobleman, feasting and reveling in Wuchuan City all day long.
Zhang Shijun looked down on Lou Poqiang and never invited him to any banquets.
Lou Poqiang gave up the town commander's mansion and moved into the home of the local military leader Hou Mochen Yue.
The Houmochen family is also a big family in Wuchuan, but there are two branches of the Houmochen family in Wuchuan city.
Before Emperor Xiaowen changed his surname to a Han one, the Xianbei people used their tribal names as their surnames. Houmochen was a Xianbei surname, so although both families had the surname Houmochen, they were not related by blood.
One branch is Houmochen Yue, whose father is Houmochen Brahmin, the Tuoniu Commander, and is a powerful family that has lived in Wuchuan for generations.
Another branch of the Houmochen family has only moved to Wuchuan for three generations. Because the previous head of the family, Houmochen Xing, died early, the current head of that branch, Houmochen Shun, has just reached adulthood. He has a group of younger brothers and sisters. The second brother, Houmochen Chong, the third brother, Houmochen Qiong, and the fourth brother, Houmochen Kai, are all very young.
Houmochen Yue was a chivalrous and brave man, and was very popular in Wuchuan.
After the Heba family and the Yuwen family left, Houmochen Yue became the leader of the Wuchuan heroes.
Lou Poqiang was drinking alone at Houmo Chenyue's house when suddenly Houmo Chenyue's confidant rushed in and said:
"Something terrible has happened! Town commander, army leader! The rebel leader Wei Ke Gu has led an army of 100,000 to attack Wuchuan!"
Lou Poqiang was so frightened that his wine bowl fell to the ground. Houmo Chenyue stood up and drew his knife. He said to Lou Poqiang decisively:
"General, Wuchuan can no longer be defended. Let's escape!"
(End of this chapter)