Northern Dynasties

Chapter 294 Meeting Shuofang
The geographical concept of Shuofang refers to different places in different historical periods. Sometimes the scope is larger and sometimes smaller, but the basic scope is mainly in the Hetao area.

The Shuofang mentioned nowadays mainly refers to the area where the Sheyan River, a tributary of the Yellow River, flows through, and Shuofang County is located in the middle and lower reaches of the Sheyan River, which is a part of Dongxia Prefecture.

Although Shuofang County belongs to Dongxia Prefecture in terms of administrative division, because there are almost no large-scale registered households in the territory, most of the official positions in some counties and counties are held by the chieftains in the territory.

"This is Wei Pingcheng? Did you lead the wrong way?"

In the wilderness, Li Mu pointed to a city in front of him, staring half in astonishment, half suspiciously, and asked, "It's still a county, why, why..."

Li Tai, who was traveling with me, also felt a little funny when he heard this. Who are you asking?You yourself are the governor of Dongxia Prefecture, and Wei Ping is the city under your control, don't you know him yet?
It's no wonder that Li Mu couldn't believe it, the city in front of him was too shabby.Rather than saying it is a city, it is better to say that it is a piece of earth enclosure. The outer wall of the rammed earth has already been weathered into disrepair, and nearly half of it collapsed, leaving only a circle of half-person-high bottom wall.

The buildings in the city are also dilapidated, and there are almost no intact buildings of considerable scale at a glance.The whole city exuded a strong sense of dilapidation from the inside to the outside, and there was no human habitation at all.

"Mr. Wu'an, this is indeed Weiping City. The earth dam in the north of the city was built when the Sheyan River flooded in the old year. In the seventh year of Datong, the last general traveled with the army and camped here to rest and replenish Supplies. This city used to be ruled by the big chieftain, the Tunu clan, but now the Qinu clan seems to have moved to the vicinity of Tongwan Town to make a living.”

Li Dao, who was in the team, looked at the terrain and surface carefully, and then replied that his family was originally from a wealthy chieftain in Xiazhou, so he was no stranger to the geographical conditions here.

Li Tai was secretly slandering Li Mu for being a bit negligent, but after hearing Li Dao's answer, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.This governor really has a taste for it, not only does he not know the location of the city under his rule, but he is emotionally attached to the government and the people, so he directly ran to the neighboring state.

Hearing Li Tai's laughter, Li Mu couldn't help but blushed immediately, and explained embarrassingly: "The situation here is different from that in Neizhou. The living people are gathered into tribes, and the grace and power come from the chief. I don't know if there is another government. Yuwen Xiazhou is a hero in this town, and is widely supported by the masses. I entered the state not long ago, and I didn't intend to compete with it. I only have Boshan to complement the Heishui River, so the people in the northern border do not know the truth deep……"

Li Mu's explanation was not unreasonable, but Li Tai couldn't help but be secretly happy seeing his old embarrassed face. Although this guy is quite old, his skin is not as thick as his son Li Ya.

The territory of Dongxia Prefecture is vast, and the situation in different regions is very different.Since Li Mu entered the prefecture, he mainly operated in the south of Qingshui, while the north of Qingshui was mostly managed by Yu Wengui from Xiazhou. The Hu chiefs here are still accustomed to the orders of the local chiefs, and they don't think much of Li Mu. This guy from Gaoping.

However, due to the lack of support from the local people, the two men felt a little bit blind when they arrived here, just like the dilapidated Weiping City in front of them. When accurate news comes from the other two states, they can attack and clear along the Sheyan River.

But right now, this city doesn't even have any individual feathers, so it's obviously not suitable as a base camp for this attack.Fortunately, they didn't bring many vanguard troops, only more than 2000 Qingqi. If they were to send out a large army, they would inevitably be caught even more blind. Of course, Li Mu knew his own affairs, so he would not let this happen.

Although Weiping City has long been abandoned, it has to be said that the geographical environment is really good. It is located in a flat valley, and the Sheyan River flows around the valley. Of course, the river has already been frozen. But traces of land reclamation can be seen around the city.

It can be seen that a few months ago, this environment must have been a picture of lush water and grass, hard work and joy, but after the winter, the environment became harsh, and there was no powerful tribal organization to protect with considerable force, and the people had to move away. This place will not return until next spring when the flowers bloom.

"It's a pity, if you can occupy the development..."

Li Tai is now obsessed with the idea of ​​farming, developing and strengthening his strength. Seeing that such a large area of ​​river valley land with good conditions cannot be continuously and effectively developed and utilized, he feels a bit reckless.The Hu people in this area are a little bit unaware of their blessings. If such a good geographical environment does not establish a foothold and develop steadily, what bicycles do they need to go to other areas?
A team of scouts first went into the city to inspect and clean it up, and shot and killed some wild beasts lurking in the city, and also found dozens of Hu men and women. Whether it is accurate or not cannot be guaranteed. After all, a large number of thieves and soldiers marched in this territory a few days ago, which will inevitably bring some shocks and changes to the personnel in the territory.

Search and contact the nearby Hu Department's own scout operations. After the brigade entered the city, they cleared out an area and came out to cook with the supplies they carried.

In the evening, the scouts who went out returned one after another, some found nothing, and some brought back some local tribe members.

Knowing that Li Mu, the governor of Dangzhou, was passing through the border, those Hu chieftains were also enthusiastic and hospitable. They hurriedly came to pay a visit, and at the same time, they also brought a lot of materials from the pastoral area, including some live cattle and sheep, which were finally given to Li Mu. Mu, the governor, respected him a little bit.

Li Mu was quite satisfied with the attitude of these people. He first inquired about some regional information, and then talked about the hope that they could send troops to cooperate to hunt down the bandit army.

When the Hu chiefs heard this topic, their expressions were so unnatural, some even gave various excuses with embarrassment, and some directly wrote their reluctance on their faces.It can be seen that although Li Mu, the governor, has face with them, it is also limited. It is nothing more than a meal and drink, and a further interview is required.

Seeing these people's excuses, Li Mu felt uncomfortable and didn't want to care about these Hu chiefs, but after dismissing everyone, he couldn't help complaining to Li Tai about Yu Wengui from Xiazhou: "All the people in Shuofang, Look up to Yuwen Xiazhou for your breath, now the territory is uneasy and bandits are rampant, Yuwen Xiazhou is really to blame! Our army has marched so bravely, if Xiazhou does not respond properly and the thieves get lost, I will definitely sue the Lord Go up, never play up its mistakes!"

Yu Wengui also didn't talk about it. Early the next morning, before the team had time to set off, Xiazhou's messenger had already found this place, rode into the city, and delivered Yu Wengui's reply.

In the letter, Yu Wengui agreed with the pursuit plan discussed by Li Tai and Li Mu, and also hoped to take this opportunity to carry out a rectification and purge against the Shuofang Hus in the Sheyanshui River Basin, and said that the material consumption of their two troops after entering the country would be controlled by Xiazhou raised part of it to compensate them for the losses caused by the Hu thieves going south.

Seeing Yu Wengui's attitude, Li Mu's mood became calmer, but when the messenger led them to the next campsite arranged by Yu Wengui for them, his mentality suddenly became a little out of balance.

This is a large tribe of tens of thousands of people, located near a tributary of the Sheyan River. In order to welcome Li Mu and others, almost the whole family came out to welcome them, and prepared a rich meal.It's just that the chief's emotional intelligence was a little anxious, implying that he hoped they could speak well for him in front of Xiazhou Yuwen envoy, but he ignored Li Mucai's nominal superior.

No matter how thick-skinned Li Mu was, he couldn't help but rely on someone else's name to eat and drink on his own land, so he got up and left the banquet directly on the grounds that he was tired from the journey.

Li Tai was holding a roasted leg of lamb that was charred on the outside and tender on the inside, and was cutting finely with a knife. When he saw Li Mu get up and leave the banquet, he sighed secretly in his heart. It's not the first day you know about this situation. Why can't you see it?If one day Yu Wengui went to Yuanzhou to be an official, wouldn't it depend on your brother's face?
The state officials officially appointed by the imperial court and the overlord's government are not as prestigious as the local powerful chiefs within the governing territory. This is also a reality in the politics of the Western Wei Dynasty.

Although Li Mu was a little resentful, he had to admit that with the support and help of these local snakes, things went much smoother for them.Soon, a local Hu department sent them information about the route of a bandit army's defeated soldiers.

Li Mu was eager to make contributions, and he didn't wait for the people behind to catch up. Dang even led his vanguards to chase and kill them all the way, and soon encountered that bandit army in the wilderness. The successful sniper captured more than 1000 bandit soldiers. Sweeping away the previous decadence and depression, he exhaled and raised his eyebrows.

Li Tai didn't have a strong desire to fight anymore. At this stage, the threat of the Three Defense City has been lifted, and his goal of going north has basically been achieved. The next step is to lend the part to Li Mu, hoping to be able to Continue to expand the results.

Yu Wengui from Xiazhou has also dispatched troops. From Tongwan City, he came all the way east along the upper reaches of the Sheyanshui River. While marching, he wiped out those Hu tribes who had not been obedient along the way.

Although the Sheyanshui River was winding and long, it couldn't stand the full force of the east and west. Ten days later, the two sides converged in Huazheng County in Xiazhou.

After several rounds of chasing and sweeping against the bandits and the Shuofang Hu tribes colluding with Li Shihu, Li Mu swept away the anger of the besieged city. After the two armies converged, he ordered his subordinates to take all All the captured population and materials were arranged, and there was still a hint of rivalry with Yu Wengui secretly in his heart.

Compared with Li Mu's mighty capture, the army led by Yu Wengui is much simpler, with only a few thousand soldiers under his command.

Seeing this scene, Li Mu couldn't help being happy, pointing at the captives and smiling at Yu Wengui, not without showing off, "These thieves are indeed rampant, but if they blindly engage in massacres, there will be dangers." It hurts the harmony of heaven. Therefore, under the punishment knife, the legal net will be opened. Among them, those who are too vicious must not be left behind. These timid and begging thieves are left. I hope they can change their past mistakes. Let you go eastward all the way, and what you encounter The thieves have no one who can make your heart forgive?"

After hearing the words, Yu Wengui smiled and said: "All the battles are in the territory, and the prisoners in the battle are directly distributed to the tribes that help the battle, so that the military plane can not be missed. Wu Angong is indeed not known for his bravery. The captured thieves It’s pretty impressive too.”

After saying this, he crossed over Li Mu and clasped his fists towards Li Tai with a smile and said, "Li Zong, don't come here without any problems! Thank you for leading the army north this time, and giving the bandit army a head-on blow, so that the troops of our two states can calm down." Pursue and suppress the remaining bandits. After all the bandits and bandits in the territory are wiped out, I will definitely say that the Lord, Sheng Zuo, will perform meritorious deeds!"

Li Tai hadn't had time to answer after hearing this, but Li Mu laughed again and said, "Boshan's northward march is for me, and when this matter is over, and on the day of triumphant return, I should hold the bridle and praise him for his merits, but that's okay." There is no need to wait for Yuwen Xiazhou's good words."

Li Tai knew that Li Mu had already accumulated a lot of resentment towards Yu Wengui during the journey, and he didn't want him to continue pestering him, so he looked at Yu Wengui and asked, "I can talk about the others later, I have something curious, May I ask if Yuwen Shijun has received the voice of Yang Shijun in Xi'an Prefecture?"

As early as when troops were sent north to rescue Li Mu, Li Tai had already written to Yang Zhong about his own developments, hoping that there could be some coordination between the realms of each other.When Guangwu City was resting, he sent someone to write a letter about his plan to pursue Li Mu Beijin and invited him to go with him.

But they have traveled all the way here, but they have not received any news from Xi'an Prefecture. Li Tai has no idea of ​​Yang Zhong's attitude and actions, making the place like a black hole of information.

This inevitably made Li Tai very surprised. Although he and Yang Zhong didn't have a deep friendship, because of the medium of Duguxin, there was nothing to say at all.Letters have been sent over and over again, what kind of thoughts Yang Zhong has in mind, at least he should let him know.

Yu Wengui shook his head when he heard Li Tai's question, saying that he had not received any message from Xi'an Prefecture.

But this is not a big deal. With the elimination of the disobedient Hu Ministry in the territory, Yu Wengui's authority in the territory can be established and publicized again. All the ministries dare not refuse to obey any order, and can mobilize most of the troops at any time .Coupled with the troops led by Li Tai and Li Mu, it is enough to fight a big battle.

At present, the few troops of Shuofang Hu who are deeply involved in the matter and the rest of Lishi Hu's tribe have gathered on the bank of the Yellow River in the northeast of Huazheng County, and there are still tens of thousands of Hu people.Even if Yang Zhong couldn't arrive in time, they could still attack the remnants of the bandit army.

But Li Tai still felt a little uncomfortable in his heart. He didn't expect that the cooperation with Yang Zhong would be so difficult for the first time. If the other party deliberately distanced himself and didn't respond to him, then the subsequent relationship would really have to be carefully reassessed. .

After joining forces, the several parties took a rest in Huazheng County to prepare for the final encirclement and suppression battle.However, at this moment, the scouts under Yu Wengui led the messengers from Xi'an Prefecture into the camp, and when they saw Li Tai, they reported: "My lord received a letter from Li Lang after he broke the thief in the territory, and immediately led his followers to this territory. , have searched the thief's lair, just waiting for Li Lang's army to arrive."

　I'm sorry, I'll take a day off tomorrow to give my mother a hundred-day grave, sorry sorry. . .

　　
　
(End of this chapter)