Water Margin people

Chapter 1477 Putting the blame on

"Food and fodder for an army of five hundred thousand!"

Everyone's faces changed again, and they looked worried. Their Gaochang occupied the Western Regions, which was the only way connecting the Central Plains and the West. It was an important trading route and had always been wealthy.

But no matter how rich it is, the Western Regions surrounded by Gobi and desert are not a grain-producing area.

"Great Khan, we only have a population of over one million. How can we provide food and fodder for an army of 500,000?"

Someone raised a question. It was not that they were unwilling, but that it was impossible. If they really provided these food and fodder, the entire Gaochang would be squeezed dry of the last drop of blood and would no longer exist.

The consumption of soldiers is different from that of ordinary people. The consumption of soldiers is twice that of civilians, and even three or four times during wartime. If the war lasts for three months, it will consume Gaochang's entire country's food for a year. If it lasts for a year, the entire Gaochang will have nothing to eat.

Bilege looked at everyone. He certainly knew the difficulties, but if it weren't for the armies of Western Liao and the Khanates, they would also be destroyed by Qi. Compared with the alien Qi, they felt more of a sense of belonging to the Turks and Khitans.

"In this way, let the Naiman tribe also provide some food and grass, and then ask Tubo to share some, we are all in this together!"

Bilege said a proverb from the Central Plains.

After arranging the people, Bilege came to the back hall.

"Your Majesty, something happened at Solim!"

An official looked at Bilego and whispered.

"what's up?"

Bilege was a little annoyed. He thought he could relax a little after returning with good news, but he didn't expect to be filled with troubles as soon as he came back.

"The eunuch sent by Jur Khan went to Sulimi not long ago and had a conflict with the chief there! The eunuch wants to increase taxes by 20%."

The officer lowered his voice.

"What? Twenty percent!"

Bilege's face turned pale. The Western Liao Dynasty managed its vassal khanates by sending a young supervisor to supervise them. The young supervisor almost represented Yelu Dashi and had supreme power in the vassal khanate.

"Merchants from all over the country are very dissatisfied. They feel that they can't survive if things continue like this! This year's taxes have not been collected yet."

The official added that Gaochang Kingdom's tax revenue mainly came from trade routes and grazing, and merchants had great power here. If one offended all the merchants, the consequences would be disastrous.

"What does the young supervisor mean?"

Bilege asked, he hoped that Shaojian could win over some of them. Although they were subservient to Western Liao and paid tribute to Western Liao, they were not slaves of Western Liao. They would give what they should give, and would never give what they should not give.

"The Junior Supervisor said that the tax must be increased by 20%. If you don't comply, we will send our army to suppress you!"

The official said in embarrassment.

"Do you have to add it?"

Bilege looked unhappy. If he had to add more, Gaochang would definitely be in chaos and civilians everywhere would rise up in rebellion.

"Khan, you must find a solution as soon as possible. I finally managed to hold the young eunuch back, but he has not yet reported to Juer Khan!"

The official said that the matter had been suppressed for the time being, but this was not a long-term solution, as Yelu Dashi would soon arrive with a large army, and by then there would be no explanation.

"Then send someone to tell Shao Jian to go along the Peacock River to Puchanghai. The merchants there will pay the taxes."

Bilego spoke with a fierce look in his eyes.

"Puchanghai? There are only a few towns there. How can we pay the taxes?"

The official said in embarrassment that the town on the other side of Puchanghai was a trade route, and caravans heading to the Central Plains would pass by there and get supplies, but those were just a few small towns, and now in the snow and ice no caravans stopped there, and all the shops were closed.

"I'm not planning on taxing him. I promised him 20% today, but it will always be 20% in the future. It will only get higher and higher. I won't allow this to happen!"

"Go tell Balbu in Puchanghai to select a thousand trustworthy soldiers, dress them up in Central Plains uniforms, go around Yumen Pass, pretend to be Central Plains cavalry, then launch a surprise attack on Puchanghai, kill the eunuch, and pin the blame on Qi!"

Bilege said that even if Shaojian went too far, he was an envoy sent by the royal court and represented the royal court. If he took action, Yelu Dashi would never let him go, but it would be a different matter if he put the blame on the State of Qi.

"My subordinate understands!"

The officials were delighted. This was a perfect idea. They could put the blame on Qi State and Yelu Dashi would have nothing to say.

Yumen Pass.

Sun Li took Luan Tingyu to inspect the defense situation of Yumen Pass.

"Junior brother, you have turned Yumen Pass into an invincible fortress!" Luan Tingyu said with a smile. Sun Li put a lot of effort into the construction of Yumen Pass.

"Haha, it's all for garrison. Yumen Pass has been abandoned for a long time, so rebuilding it is much easier. We can build it according to various ideas."

Sun Li said with a smile.

"Report, General, unidentified cavalry appeared fifty miles away!"

A scout ran to the city gate and shouted.

A hanging basket was lowered and the scout was pulled up to the city gate.

"Unidentified? How many people?"

Sun Li looked at the scout and asked.

"I don't know. Those people were riding tall horses and wearing the clothes of ordinary people from the Central Plains. There were about a thousand of them."

Scout reports.

"A thousand cavalrymen dressed in the clothes of the Central Plains civilians?"

Luan Tingyu frowned, feeling that something was wrong no matter how he listened.

"It should be someone pretending to be someone else, but why would someone pretend to be someone else all of a sudden?"

Sun Li also frowned. He knew it was someone pretending to be someone else as soon as he heard it. If it was spring or summer, these people could still use it as an excuse to rob, but now it is the middle of winter and there are no caravans left. "

"Where did those people go?"

Sun Li looked at the scout and asked.

"Those people were wandering around the border, even approaching some tribes and towns, but they didn't plunder."

The scout spoke.

"Let's go and take a look!"

Luan Tingyu looked at Sun Li and spoke.

"I have nothing to do anyway, so I might as well go take a look!"

Sun Li nodded. He wanted to see who were the people who were willing to risk their lives to pretend to be them.

Sun Li arranged the defense, and he and Luan Tingyu led two thousand cavalrymen out of the border and headed towards the border.

Near the border, Balbu was wandering with his soldiers, proving their presence nearby.

"General, this place is too close to Yumen Pass!"

An officer looked at Babur worriedly. It was very risky for them to pretend to be the Qi army after receiving the order.

"Just walk a little further and then go back!"

Babur spoke and said that he knew it was too dangerous, but the problem was that he had no choice. If he wanted to put the blame on Qi, they had to make everyone think that they were Qi’s army.

"Report, there are 2,000 cavalrymen at Yumen Pass, come quickly!"

A scout came on horseback to report.

"No, leave quickly!"

Babur immediately gave orders, saying that they only had one thousand cavalry and were no match for the Qi army.

When Sun Li and Luan Tingyu arrived with their troops, the enemy had disappeared without a trace.

"You reacted quickly enough!"

Luan Tingyu looked at the empty snowy field covered with war horse footprints and spoke.

"They are Gaochang people. These war horses are all good horses from the Western Regions. It seems that they want to impersonate us to do bad things!"

Sun Li took a look at the horseshoe prints on the ground and identified the person. There is a big difference between the war horses of the Western Regions and those of the grasslands, Liaodong, and Tubo.