stubborn thief

Chapter 652 Fruits of Victory

Just as the Henan general of the Ming army was getting ready to go to Luoyang to look for the Henan general of the Marshal's Mansion.

Liu Chengzong of Xi'an Prefecture was enjoying the fruits of victory in the war.

The Battle of Mobei, in Chongzhen's view, was the most shameful battle in the six-year rebellion since Liu Chengzong's rebellion, the fall of famous cities and the defeat of famous generals.

Run away in fear.

But for Liu Chengzong, it was the simplest and greatest victory he had ever achieved in his military career.

Every inch of land in the Marshal's Mansion was conquered by Liu Shizi himself, who led his troops with swords and guns, robbed and plundered, and killed countless people. He became invincible in the northwest, and only then did he piece together the vast territory of the Marshal's Mansion.

Only Mobei is larger than Qinghai and Gansu combined.

It takes no effort at all.

Yang Qi, a little-known defeated general.

E'linchen was a Jinong whose title of Khan was abolished by Ligdan Khan.

The 20,000 scattered Mongolian soldiers in the northern desert did not dare to challenge the Later Jin even if the three Khans led the troops themselves.

How proud Liu Chengzong is.

All the tribes within a radius of 500 miles drove their livestock and tents into the Ordos Desert. The main force withdrew and avoided the battle. The commander-in-chief retreated into the city and dared not fight back.

It was a bit embarrassing.

But the process is not important.

What Liu Chengzong valued was the result. His order to Yang Qi and others was to let them maintain their presence in the south of the desert.

In other words, as long as Yang Qi and his men were alive and alive on the Monan grassland, even if they did nothing, they had completed Liu Chengzong's deployment.

Even Liu Chengzong himself did not expect that after he wrote out thousands of bad checks, the Mongolian soldiers of the Mobei Governor's Office would be able to march straight into the territory of Harashen.

It turned the leading tribal state into a pile of ashes and almost made Harashen a historical term.

As a result of the final battle, Yang Qi's Mo Nan Governor's Office not only maintained its existence, but also allowed the power of the Marshal's Office to cover the sky of the Mo Nan grassland.

What Ming Dynasty, what Northern Yuan Dynasty, what Later Jin Dynasty, what Three Khans of Mobei, they are all nothing but chickens and dogs under their cover.

No one can protect the enemies of the Marshal's Mansion in Mo Nan, and that was the fate of Harashen.

What's the use of being so rampant when you come here? You have to go back eventually. When you go back, I will still be here. I am the master here.

This is victory, a great victory.

At this point, the only thing Liu Shizi needed to consider was how to digest the results of the battle.

Because it is difficult to get rewards.

It would be inappropriate not to reward someone for such a great achievement.

However, the reward involved another problem. The official positions he gave to Yang Qi and others, and even the titles bestowed on thousands of households in Mo Nan, were actually rewards that should only be given after the war.

In other words, it is already the highest level.

Moreover, Yang Qi and E'linchen, the two people who contributed the most in this battle, both had a problem: they had no sons.

Yang Qi's son died when he was stationed in Shanhaiguan in his early years; E'erchen's son died in a fight with Ligdan Khan.

In the following years, everyone's living conditions were the same. They were displaced in the war and no one had time to take care of their children.

So much so that it is very difficult to be an official.

Fortunately, when Liu Chengzong entered Guanzhong, he was at the richest time of his life, but he also faced many problems.

So it just so happens that one problem is solved by another.

He was also very generous in his rewards. First, he rewarded Yang Qi with 5,000 taels of silver, and granted him 10,000 acres of land and 10,000 acres of grassland in Jingning Prefecture, as well as armor, a precious sword, a fine horse, and clothes.

At the same time, in Yang Qi's hometown of Lanzhou, two relatives of the nephew generation were selected to join the Yulin Camp and were granted the title of Duwei.

Correspondingly, the rewards for Taiji Xuantu, He Huchen, Wang Chengen, and officers of all levels who followed the army to the south of the desert were lowered successively, and the fields and pastures granted to them were all in Jingning Prefecture, Guyuan Prefecture and other places.

Because there are no people in those places, the fields and grasslands have long been abandoned. There is a shortage of people in the whole of Shaanxi except Guanzhong, and there is no way to carry out immigration.

After all, immigration does not mean that if people in one place are hungry, they can be well fed by moving them somewhere else.

In fact, moving it out will only lead to insufficient food in other places.

The reason is simple. In ancient agricultural society, the Engel coefficient was too high.

For example, after the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, silver became the main currency unit.

It was easy for an ordinary person to earn ten taels of silver a year by doing long-term or short-term work or being a peddler.

They do the most ordinary and common job, and get the most ordinary and common salary.

This makes ten taels of silver seem like not much money.

But also in this era, a family with twenty taels of fixed assets and wealth was considered a middle-class family.

It would seem very strange. How come after deducting the house, livestock and a few acres of land, the wealth of a family is not as high as the salary of one person working outside in a year?

Because of the developed commodity economy, society has become very tense.

It was easy to earn ten taels of silver a year, but that didn't mean he could buy anything big with it.

The reason is the same as that of the great uprising in the Ming Dynasty: people need to eat.

This person would have to spend nine taels of rice just for his meals, so the old saying goes that one cannot get rich without unexpected fortune, because it is impossible to save money if the income is below the basic level.

This great uprising had nothing to do with the peasants at the beginning.

When the drought came, the price of grain doubled. If the honest farmers in Shaanxi had not encountered man-made disasters, they would probably still be working hard in the fields to make a living.

However, because those who ate commercial grain were about to starve to death, Liu Chengzong, who was a soldier and received a salary, Zhang Xianzhong, who was an official and received a grain of food, Li Zicheng, who was a soldier and a messenger, and Wang Ziyu, who made a living by his craft... these people had no food to eat and rebelled.

Immigration means moving those people who have to work to earn a living away, or turning those who work on the land into refugees.

Not only will it fail to solve the problem, it will also create new population problems.

People who have no food to eat are 100% tied to the land. Even if they kill people and rob people to become bandits, they can only be sedentary bandits.

If they had enough food to eat on the road, they would not become refugees or bandits.

Only by allowing those who have food to eat to go to places where there is food to eat can immigration be successful.

It is difficult for Liu Chengzong to lead immigration to places like Jingning Prefecture where there is land but no people because the cost is too high.

However, the situation is different when the land is granted to generals who have made meritorious services in Mo Nan. They have money and people, and the land can be used to accommodate wounded soldiers or let their families take care of it.

As for the Mongolian soldiers in Mobei who had made great efforts, Liu Shizi was not mean to them, but rewarding them was much simpler.

What is the most precious thing on the Mongolian grassland?

Pasture.

Liu Chengzong specially transferred a team from Xining and re-employed Gao Xian, who had been idle for a long time.

He also gathered for him the Zaisan of the Khan's Oirud, the cartographer of the Xincheng Academy, the young students of the Children's Camp, and two teams of officers from the Yulin Camp, forming a working team with strong comprehensive capabilities.

Gao Xian was very excited when he received the transfer order in Xincheng, and immediately rushed to Xi'an Prefecture without stopping.

When he arrived at Xi'an Prefecture and saw Marshal Liu, his face immediately fell: "This, are we going to Mo Nan?"

Gao Xian was a real veteran in the Marshal's Office. After leaving Yuhebao, he hung out with Liu Chengzong all day long.

The Guanning Army that fought against Cao Wenzhao in Pingliang was injured by war horses. Because there were many wounded soldiers at that time, many people stayed in Pingliang. Gao Xian also stayed in Pingliang as the sentry leader of the Lion Camp and missed the early days of the Marshal's Office.

However, just like Hu Sanhuai and other senior officers, although Gao Xian, who had been in charge of troops from Pingliang to Qinghai, no longer led troops, his military rank still rose with the status of the Marshal's Office, and his food, clothing and other expenses were treated like a lieutenant general.

But Gao Xian's situation was different from that of Hu Sanhuai and Wu Yangchen, the two lieutenant generals who were specifically responsible for protecting Liu Chengyun and Shi Chengwo. While the others were clamoring for war, Gao Xian just let Liu Chengzong's arrangements go and was not in a hurry for promotion.

Because he was the son-in-law of the King of Han, his dowry was very generous.

His father-in-law was Han Fan's general and the great-grandson of King Han Ding. Unable to bear King Han's efforts to get money from his relatives, he decided to use the strategy of driving a tiger to devour a wolf and married his youngest daughter, who had not yet received the title of lord from the court, to Gao Xian, who was recuperating in Pingliang.

In terms of seniority, Gao Xian is now the uncle of the young King of Han.

However, because he was separated from his wife in a drought and chaos in his early years, his mental state was very problematic. The better his life was, the stronger his sense of guilt became. He had a temperament of trying to rush towards death and was tired of living.

"I know you have been busy in the past few years, but there is no need to go on a diplomatic mission to the Later Jin. Just live a good life."

Liu Chengzong looked at Gao Xian with complicated eyes.

In recent years, the old brothers have been leading troops to fight, and Gao Xian has not been idle since he learned that Liu Chengzong wanted him to go on a diplomatic mission to the Later Jin Dynasty.

When he first arrived in Qinghai, everything was normal. He had two children, and with his new wife's dowry, he bought some fields and pastures in the Yaoshui River Basin in Xincheng, and recruited some retired veterans to manage the family business.

But he himself spent the whole day studying, eating a lot, building up his strength, and honing his skills.

He even applied to the old man for a guard team of 100 men, and their food and wages were paid from the supplies allocated to Xincheng Academy by the Marshal's Mansion. They practiced raids, sabotage, blasting, poisoning and other things all day long.

As a result, the generals who went to the battlefield in the Marshal's Mansion were losing more weight than the other. Gao Xian kept himself fat and strong, and he looked twice as strong as before.

He was even afraid that Huang Taiji would not understand, so he specially improved his Mongolian language and learned many swear words that he could use skillfully.

Gao Xian really held himself to the standards of an envoy. He had obviously read books and learned from the experiences of his predecessors who had served as envoys.

The only thing is that there seems to be something wrong with the book I'm reading.

After learning about this, Liu Chengzong thought that Gao Xian's role model might be the kind of Han envoy who was arrogant and domineering in his working style, had a work attitude of going without return, and would use up an envoy to gain an excuse for war.

In this mental state, Liu Shizi didn't dare to send him as an envoy to the Later Jin Dynasty.

In the past, it was not a big deal to send a light cavalry to kill the Khan, but the key point is that there was no need for it.

The envoys of the Han Dynasty at that time looked like our ancestors who had emerged from the barbaric era and gained world hegemony. The international diplomatic order was built from scratch. The envoys were all the emperor's entourage, and they went out arrogantly and domineeringly just to cause trouble. Later, the diplomatic rule of killing Han envoys and destroying the country was established.

But that method was obviously too civilized for the Marshal's Mansion where mad dogs were running around.

The Marshal's Office has enemies all over the world. All the surrounding forces have either been defeated or are being defeated. There is no opponent that needs an excuse to start a war.

From Changbai Mountain to Tianshan Mountain, everyone is a slave to famine and cold.

To go to war you need an excuse, and you also need an envoy. How novel.

"You don't have to sacrifice yourself. Just take those people to the south of the desert, draw a map, and help Governor Yang divide the territory and pastures of 230,000 households. That will be a great achievement."

Liu Chengzong spoke this matter to Gao Xian very carefully, saying: "This matter is not easy. If it is not handled well, the battle in Mo Nan will be in vain."

This is the real sharing of the fruits of victory.

Gao Xian nodded heavily and said, "I know. To divide the pastureland, we still have to fight, right?"

"There won't be any major wars this year, but small conflicts are unavoidable. Don't worry about it. The 23 tribes won't give up the land they have. We'll fight when we have to."

Liu Chengzong's speculation in this regard mainly involved the Khalkha border nobles of the Three Khans of Mobei and the remnant forces of Karashen.

The forces in the northern part of the desert are very powerful, and they will probably be interested in the unowned pasturelands in the southern part of the desert. Liu Chengzong estimated that they would have some minor conflicts with Yang Qi.

However, even if a conflict really breaks out, Liu Shizi is very optimistic about the prospects of the Mobei Governor's Office. The three parties in Mobei are not on the same page and will not be able to accomplish anything big.

In comparison, he still felt that the remaining troops of Harashen would cause more trouble to Yang Qi.

Even though they only have a few hundred riders left, and at best they can act as grassland bandits and horse bandits in the eastern part of the southern desert, it is precisely because of this that they roam around and cause trouble, making them difficult to catch.

Liu Chengzong was an expert at wandering around and causing trouble, so he certainly understood this.

To suppress bandits, the difficulty lies not in suppressing them, but in finding where the bandits are first.

However, before Gao Xian set out for Mo Nan, Yang Qi had already sent the spoils back from Mo Nan to Xi'an Prefecture.

During the Battle of Guihua City, the Later Jin army attacked the city angrily and left behind some weapons and armor. Yang Qi picked out several sets of infantry and cavalry equipment and packed them up and sent them to Liu Chengzong.

The one who led the team back to deliver the goods was Lieutenant General Bai Wenxuan, who led more than a hundred riders and escorted several carts.

Bai Wenxuan did not take off his armor when he arrived in Xi'an Prefecture. He first went to see Liu Chengzong and entered the Huayan Temple where the central army of the general's mansion was located. He saw that Liu Chengzong, Zhang Xianzhong and King Han were all there.

He saluted Liu Chengzong first, then Zhang Xianzhong, and then looked at King Han with his nose: "General, Minister, I have been ordered to escort eight sets of armor, three horses, two hunting dogs, prisoners and two escort soldiers of the Later Jin army to the central military camp."

"here you go."

Liu Chengzong casually said that he actually had no interest in the armor of the Later Jin Army.

These days, all over the world, including the Marshal's Office, from the Oirats, Northern Yuan, Later Jin, and Korea, the basic and Ming army armor are similar in specifications, basically just with some exotic decorations.

He was more interested in the people and dogs, so he asked, "What's the matter with the captives?"

"He was wearing double armor and was very strong. On the battlefield, he knocked the wooden pillars of the city defense unconscious on the top of the city wall. After waking up, he couldn't speak. I thought he was hit stupidly, but he can train dogs."

Bai Wenxuan laughed innocently, "It seems that he is not stupid, but he doesn't know Wang Hua and can't communicate with him. I asked other captive bannermen and they said he was called Fish Skin Tartar or some other strange name. He was caught by the Tartars on the riverside."

"There was another Khorchin man who could barely understand a few words he said and could speak Mongolian. Governor Yang sent him here along with three Liaodong dogs to keep as dogs for the Marshal. The rest of the captives and wounded soldiers were killed."

After that, he asked Liu Chengzong, "By the way, Marshal, Commander Yang asked me to come here to ask about the more than 600 heads captured in Mo Nan. Do you want any?"

Liu Chengzong laughed and said, "Why would I need that thing? Let him sell it to Ming Dynasty."

good evening!