Northern Dynasties

In winter, the weather in Beizhou is cold and freezing, with the north wind howling from the south and heading north, Luoshui can be seen with the naked eye from the initial scattered ice floes to the river being completely frozen by ice and snow.

In the early noon, the sun was still bright, and although the heat from it was meager, the people who were wrapped in thick robes and furs were rolling up and down on the horse's back, and they didn't feel the wind was unbearable, on the contrary, they felt a little dry.

But when it was noon, the wind added a bit of damp and cold, and it penetrated into the person's body along the gap in the robe.The experienced old pawn warned that it might snow in the afternoon, and all the knights got off their horses one after another, looking for a leeward place by the river, making cooking and lighting a fire, first filling the stomachs of the horses, and then taking out the facial fat and ointment they carried, and smearing it on the head, face, hands and neck On the ground, even the capital of the horse was smeared with a thick layer of ointment.

When he was on the road again, there were already some tiny ice particles mixed in the wind, crackling against his body, and soon the ice particles expanded into flakes of snowflakes, obstructing even his vision.

However, the knights who were full and continued on the road did not stop because of this, but continued to move towards the established target direction.In such weather, if you sleep in the cold wilderness, the troops will lose their temperature quickly. If there is no sufficient supplies and proper placement, even the most elite troops may be knocked down by this ordinary snowy weather.

The snow is getting bigger and bigger. From noon to evening, the world is already white.Smoke rose from the walls of the cities along the Luoshui River. Pedestrians who were traveling against the wind and snow saw this scene. Although they couldn't feel the real warmth, they felt a little comforted in their hearts.

In previous years, the situation in Beizhou was not stable, especially in autumn and winter, when bandits and bandits came and went, and swarms of jihus swept across the countryside like locusts. Therefore, it is rare for a large number of people to live in a geographically marked area like Luoshui.

However, since last year, both sides of the Luoshui River have become visibly bustling, and villages, large and small, have sprung up like mushrooms. After the winter of this year, the scale of these settlements has ushered in varying degrees of growth.

For ordinary people, what is the most precious thing in troubled times?It is a sense of security!
With the establishment of the military defense system of the Three Defense City and the effective attack on the Jihu forces in the area, the people scattered all over the place also moved after hearing the news, and migrated to the Luoshui River Basin, which has become very safe.

Li Tai does not hold a local official position, so he does not know the specific situation of the migration and expansion of households in the entire Luoshui River Basin in the past year, but this year's journey northward is also in this extremely cold weather full of wind and snow. , What I saw along the way was quite different from the depression and desolation of last year, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment in my heart.

Although he didn't have the outstanding virtues of Shun to attract people to take refuge in him, but through his own efforts and with the bow and knife in his hand, he actually expanded the living space of the people nowadays.

Northern Shaanxi was still a desolate land before, only relying on the blueprint drawn in his mind, he led his troops into it without hesitation.Now that you see the smoke from the villages on the road, you should know who the drums are beating for, why not be afraid of the wind and snow, and have the courage to bury all the invading enemies!
After traveling north for several days, Li Tai led more than a thousand strikers to Luochuan Defense.

Compared with Li Tainian's journey to the south, the scale of Luochuan Defense is now even bigger.

Fangcheng itself has not been expanded much, but the settlements surrounding Fangcheng have expanded by more than a factor of [-], extending tens of miles north, south and east along the Fangcheng of Luochuan and the banks of Luoshui River. The area covered by the Sichuan garrison was almost filled with felt tents and houses.

Although such a scene looks lively, it is also chaotic, especially Luochuanfang is a military castle, but even the passages for the armored soldiers to enter and exit are occupied by the people's settlements. It is okay if there is no military incident. Even if the city can be guaranteed, it will not be able to effectively prevent and control the surrounding areas.

Li Daozao, who was staying at Luochuan Defense, led a group of troops to the south of Fangcheng to wait for Li Tai's return.

Seeing this scene, Li Tai frowned immediately, and said in a deep voice: "If there are no rules, there will be no circle. The garrison is not without rules and regulations for recruiting and arranging the dead. If the people cannot be protected by the law, the people will not be enough to support them." Make up, but become a drag!"

Li Dao first nodded in yes, and then sighed distressedly: "Everyone in Beizhou knows that the governor loves the people like a son, and it is difficult to make a living in the wilderness. Only by living near the city can one rely on him. Besides, Luochuan There are many kinds of civil engineering and construction work in the surrounding areas, and the people gather here to apply for military service, and the food supplements can sustain a winter's livelihood, and there are several works such as Diaoyin Liu's to boost the momentum..."

No matter what age, the relationship between the military and the people is far from harmonious. Most of the time, even those with knives in their hands cannot tell whether it is a soldier or a bandit.

But Li Tai has been emphasizing military discipline ever since he led his troops to go out to fight. In many cases, he would rather pay double the price of military funds than allow the troops to eat at the expense of the people.

Now that there are more and more people in command, the team itself has a distinction between closeness and distance. Apart from its own direct lineage, it is difficult for other troops to maintain the strict military discipline as before.

But generally speaking, his discipline is much higher than that of other generals, and he has less bullying and oppression against ordinary people. His reputation has gradually spread in Beizhou, so the people are willing to come to seek refuge.

There are not a few defenses set up by Bafu in Beizhou, but there are few defenses like Luochuan Defense that can attract so many people to join them. Even Heishui Defense, which is one of the three defense cities, is much worse.

Of course, in addition to the strict military discipline of Li Tai's team, it is also because the geography and living environment of the area where Luochuan Fangcheng is located is already very superior.

The Luochuan defense area is adjacent to the Luoshui River, and the area is rich in water and grass, suitable for farming and grazing. It is even more located in the central position connecting the past and the future in today's three-defense city system.The scheduling of personnel resources in the three-defense city needs to be transferred through Luochuanfang, and these storage and transportation processes alone require a lot of manpower to maintain.

In addition to the resource allocation of the Sanfang City itself, the Liu Shifo Temple not far to the north of Luochuanfang is also a very huge project.Especially with the addition of Diaoyin Liu, a big local tycoon on the surface, and the injection of a large amount of materials, the construction process of this great temple was several times faster.

Li Dao said that the Jihu tribe boosted the momentum, referring to the Diaoyin Liu clan and other tribes, in order to speed up the construction period of the temple, offered generous conditions to recruit Han and Hu manpower from all directions to work here.

After winter, the output of field assets has dropped sharply, and there are various unpredictable natural disasters and man-made disasters. Now there is a place that is safe to eat and drink, and everyone naturally flocks to it.

The surge of people gathered around has put pressure on the administration of Fangcheng. In order to participate in the grand parade, Li Tai also took away a lot of administrative power from Zhufangcheng, which made the left-behind staff even more powerless, thus causing the current congestion. Chaotic situation.

After listening to Li Tai, he didn't continue to reprimand Li Dao. The affairs he was in charge of surged, so that the staff reserve was insufficient, which was also a kind of happy trouble.

A group of people walked back and forth between these felt tents and shacks, and it took half an hour to return to Fangcheng. Li Tai also felt more and more that if no control was left, these gathered people would greatly hinder the personnel dispatch of Luochuanfang.

Fortunately, when he returned from this trip, he brought some subordinates who originally belonged to the Metropolitan Water Administration.

After preparing for a grand parade, the Metropolitan Administrative Office had to sell assets in order to provide sufficient supplies, and was almost turned into an empty shell by Li Tai. The number of cases in the office also dropped sharply. Li Tai brought these people to the three-defense city.

These subordinates have all been tempered by the case work of the Water Administration, and they are very experienced in handling trivial affairs, which is very suitable for the current situation.

So Li Tai ordered Pei Hong, the official of Dushui, to lead his staff to create registers and households as soon as possible, organize the people around Fangcheng as farm households, and divide them into different living areas.

One hundred households of the people are divided into one battalion, and each has a military leader. Only by following the establishment can they be allowed to live here and get some charcoal subsidies from Fangcheng, and join the farm production in the coming year.

After explaining this, Li Taicai asked about the military situation again: "Since this year, the Hu tribe in the border has been suppressed a lot, and the Hu tribes in Diaoyin and other places have attached themselves one after another. How can there be traces of Hu tribe bandits again?"

Speaking of this question, Li Dao's expression suddenly became serious, and he said in a deep voice: "This winter's disturbance did not originate from the Black Water, but from the territory of Xiazhou. At the beginning of winter, the Sheyan River in the northern border has a huge impact. Hu bandits from all over the world gathered together, harassed Shuofang, and even besieged Tongwan City at one point..."

Li Tai couldn't help taking a deep breath when he heard this.He wasn't surprised that Jingzhong would be disturbed again this winter. He had foreseen it before, but the main idea was Heishuihu's counterattack, but he didn't expect the fire elsewhere to be so aggressive.

Especially when he heard that these Hu bandits dared to besiege Tongwan City, he realized the seriousness of Hu's situation in his heart.Although his three-defense city is doing very well right now, the most powerful in Beizhou now is Tongwan City in Xiazhou. He even has to borrow troops from Xiazhou to ensure that there are enough people.

"Xiazhou Yuwen envoy recruited and mobilized all the troops. Although he tried his best to protect the city of Tongwan, he was also unable to counter the bandits in the territory. This time, there were more than [-] thieves. After the defeat in Tongwan City, they There should be more than [-] people who invaded and plundered Dongxia Prefecture. Li Shijun of Dongxia Prefecture was supposed to stop the enemy in Shangjun, but he was almost out of the bandit formation. Now he has to retreat to occupy the state city and send troops to the south. Come to warn of sleepiness..."

Speaking of this, Li Dao already looked worried, and sighed: "If the bandit army continues to come south, they will reach the vicinity of Heishui Fangcheng at the latest before the twelfth lunar month. The governor should increase his troops and fortify as soon as possible!"